NASA Asteroid Tracker: 66-Foot NEO Zips Terrifyingly Close To Earth

NASA is closely monitoring an asteroid that’s currently headed for Earth.

According to NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), the approaching asteroid is called 2019 SC. As indicated in the agency’s database, the asteroid is currently traveling at a speed of around 30,220 miles per hour. It has an estimated diameter of 66 feet, making it slightly longer than a standard bowling lane.

CNEOS predicted that 2019 SC will fly past Earth on Sept. 19 at 2:37 pm EDT. During its approach, the asteroid will only be about 0.00360 astronomical units or roughly 334,600 miles from the planet’s center. This means the asteroid will be flying slightly farther than the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

While there's zero chance it will hit Earth, factors in space that can still alter its trajectory. One of these factors is a gravitational keyhole. This is a region in space that’s heavily affected by the gravitational pull of a large cosmic object such as a planet or a moon. If 2019 SC passes through a gravitational keyhole, it could get pulled into a path that may take it directly to Earth.

There’s also a chance that 2019 SC bumps into another space rock or debris as it approaches Earth. If this happens, it could send the asteroid hurtling towards the planet.

Given the asteroid’s relatively small size, it will most likely not reach the surface if it hits the planet. Instead, it will most likely break apart and explode in the air after entering the Earth’s atmosphere.

Although the asteroid probably won’t hit the ground, it can still cause a lot of damage if it explodes mid-air. 2019 SC is as big as the asteroid that detonated over Chelyabinsk Oblast in Russia in 2013. The explosion created by the asteroid was so strong that it created a huge fireball and damaged about 7,000 buildings in the area. The event also left around 1,500 people injured.