A VERY BIG asteroid will pass 'close' to Earth early Wednesday morning and it's zipping through space at just under 20,000 mph. The diameter of this space rock is estimated at 1.2 miles!

According to earthsky.org;

Asteroid 1998 OR2 will pass at a safe distance, at some 4 million miles or about 16 times the Earth-moon distance. It’ll be the biggest asteroid to fly by Earth this year (that we know about so far); according to current estimates, it’s probably a bit over a mile wide.

 

The closest approach will be Wednesday morning, April 29 around 4:56 a.m. CT.

Astronomers first discovered asteroid 1998 OR2 in 1998.

According to space.com:

observations by the Arecibo Observatory will allow scientists to more accurately predict the asteroid's future trajectory, which will sweep by Earth another 12 times this century, according to NASA. Only two of those approaches, in 2079 and 2127, will bring the asteroid closer to Earth than this year's flyby.

Those with smaller telescopes will also have an opportunity to see it. No telescope? No problem! The Virtual Telescope Project will host a viewing of the asteroid beginning at 1 PM today. (Tuesday)

If you would like to take a shot seeing the asteroid tonight, look near the constellation Hydra.

Read more HERE!

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Credit: VideoFromSpace via YouTube

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