NASA Spots Massive 1,476-Foot 'Hazardous' Asteroid Headed For Earth On Sunday

NASA warned that a massive asteroid will approach Earth on Sunday. According to the agency’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), the approaching asteroid is bigger than the Empire State building.

The incoming asteroid has been identified by the agency as 2015 JD1. This asteroid was first observed on May 11, 2015. Based on CNEOS’ database, 2015 JD1 visits Earth’s neighborhood almost regularly. The last time this asteroid flew past Earth was on May 18.

According to NASA, this asteroid is currently moving towards Earth at an average speed of almost 27,000 miles per hour. The agency estimated that the asteroid is about 1,476 feet wide, which makes it over 400 feet taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

2015 JD1 has been classified as an Apollo asteroid. This means that like other Apollo asteroids, 2015 JD1 has a very wide orbit around the Earth and the Sun. From time to time, the asteroid’s orbit intersects with that of Earth as it completes its cycle around the Sun.

Due to the asteroid’s Earth-crossing orbit and its massive size, 2015 JD1 has been labeled by CNEOS as potentially hazardous. This means that the asteroid has a chance of causing an impact event on Earth during one of its close-intersections with the planet.

“Potentially Hazardous Asteroids are currently defined based on parameters that measure the asteroid’s potential to make threatening close approaches to the Earth,” the agency explained in a statement.

“Specifically, all asteroids with a minimum orbit intersection distance of 0.05 astronomical units or less and an absolute magnitude of 22.0 or less are considered [potentially hazardous asteroids],” CNEOS added.

According to the agency, 2015 JD1 is expected to enter Earth’s vicinity on Nov. 3 at 8:44 am EDT. During its approach, the asteroid will be about 0.03312 astronomical units or roughly 3.1 million miles from the planet’s center.

After its upcoming visit, the next time the asteroid will approach Earth will be on May 5, 2023. CNEOS noted that on its future visit, the asteroid will fly past Earth from a distance of 0.37180 astronomical units or about 35 million miles away.