NASA Detects 'Potentially Hazardous' Asteroid To Fly By Earth Next Year

NASA has detected that one of the largest known potentially hazardous asteroids will approach Earth less than a year from now.

The approaching asteroid has been identified by the space agency as 1998 OR2. It was first discovered on June 30, 1987, and is known to frequently approach the orbits of Earth and Jupiter. It was classified as an Amor asteroid, which means its orbit covers both the Sun and Earth.

As indicated by NASA’s asteroid tracking department, which is known as the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), 1998 OR2 has an estimated diameter of 13,500 feet. Given its size, the asteroid is longer than the National Mall in Washington D.C., which stretches from the Capitol Building to the Lincoln Memorial.

According to CNEOS, 1998 OR2 will fly past Earth on April 29, 2020, at 5:56 am EDT. During its approach, the asteroid will be about 0.04205 astronomical units or around 3.9 million miles from the planet’s center.