Asteroid bigger than Great Pyramid of Giza to zip past Earth at 20,000 miles per hour
A huge asteroid is set to make a close approach to Earth next week and it is estimated to be nearly double the size of a Boeing 747 plane and bigger than the Great Pyramid of Giza.
The asteroid, called 2016 NF23, is headed towards Earth and is expected to zip past it on August 29 nearly three million miles away. The massive rock is traveling at the speed of over 20,000 miles per hour and is considered to be a "potentially hazardous" object considering its proximity to our planet.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has stated that the asteroid 2016 NF23 is about 230 to 525 feet wide (70-160 meters). The trajectory of the space rock suggests that it should soar safely by in early September, according to the Daily Mail.
The asteroid, at nearly 525 feet, would be taller than Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza, which is nearly 455 feet, reports state.
The space agency tracks massive asteroids and other near-Earth objects to avoid any potential danger or threat to the planet.
This asteroid is classified within the "Athens" group and has been named 1862 Athens, according to reports. NASA recently released a diagram from its Jet Propulsion Lab, which shows how the asteroid's orbit intersects with the Earth's and with the massive rock getting closer to our planet by the hour. It also shows a sketch of when the object will reach its closest point to Earth on August 29.
The space rock will be .03 astronomical units (au) away at this point in time, which is nearly three million miles, according to reports.
The asteroid is set to make an approach shortly after a bus-sized asteroid zoomed past Earth earlier this month, in the closes approach to Earth this year.
NASA has listed asteroid 2016 NF23 under the category of "potentially hazardous objects," which are generally those space objects which reach a minimum distance of less than .05 au from Earth and have an absolute magnitude (H) of 22.0 or brighter. Reports state that the asteroid which is fast approaching has an absolute magnitude of 22.9.