x

Science

Skyscraper-Size Asteroid will Buzz Earth on Friday, Safely Passing Within 1.7 Million Miles

February 1, 2024

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An asteroid as big as a skyscraper will pass within 1.7 million miles of Earth on Friday.

Don’t worry: There’s no chance of it hitting us since it will pass seven times the distance from Earth to the moon.

NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies estimates the space rock is between 690 feet and 1,575 feet (210 meters and 480 meters) across. That means the asteroid could be similar in size to New York City’s Empire State Building or Chicago’s Willis Tower.

Discovered in 2008, the asteroid is designated as 2008 OS7. It won’t be back our way again until 2032, but it will be a much more distant encounter, staying 45 million miles (72 million kilometers) away.

The harmless flyby is one of several encounters this week. Three much smaller asteroids also will harmlessly buzz Earth on Friday, no more than tens of yards (meters) across, with another two on Saturday. On Sunday, an asteroid roughly half the size of 2008 0S7 will swing by, staying 4.5 million miles (7.3 million kilometers) away.

___
By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

RELATED

LA JUNTA, Colo. (AP) — Love is in the air on the Colorado plains — the kind that makes your heart beat a bit faster, quickens your step and makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

herald

Top Stories

Columnists

A pregnant woman was driving in the HOV lane near Dallas.

General News

NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.

Video

Spider Lovers Scurry to Colorado Town in Search of Mating Tarantulas and Community

LA JUNTA, Colo. (AP) — Love is in the air on the Colorado plains — the kind that makes your heart beat a bit faster, quickens your step and makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

NEW YORK - At this year’s annual International Opera Awards, a marquee event in opera, which took place on October 2 at the famous home of the Bavarian State Opera (Bayerische Staatsoper) in Munich, SNF was recognized for its longstanding and pivotal support to the Greek National Opera (GNO), both through the creation of its new home at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) and through enduring support to strengthen its artistic outreach.

I accepted Peter (Panayotis) Tiboris’ proposal that I write his biography because I was intrigued by his life story.

Ted Sarandos’ incredible success story is the Hollywood dream that many of us hope to reach but very few achieve.

espa

Enter your email address to subscribe

Provide your email address to subscribe. For e.g. [email protected]

You may unsubscribe at any time using the link in our newsletter.