Don't look up ...
NASA is predicting that an asteroid more than twice the size of the Empire State Building will be passing close to Earth on Tuesday, January 18. But, have no fear, the "potentially hazardous" asteroid will fly safely by our dear planet.
Called 7482 (1994 PC1), the space rock is about 3,451 feet in diameter and cruising at 43,754 mph.
Near-Earth #asteroid 1994 PC1 (~1 km wide) is very well known and has been studied for decades by our #PlanetaryDefense experts. Rest assured, 1994 PC1 will safely fly past our planet 1.2 million miles away next Tues., Jan. 18.
— NASA Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) January 12, 2022
Track it yourself here: https://t.co/JMAPWiirZh pic.twitter.com/35pgUb1anq
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory believes the asteroid could come within 1,231,184 miles of Earth. It's also been projected that this same asteroid will pass by us again in July, but at a far greater distance.
You can watch a livestream of the large space rock on the Virtual Telescope Project's website, which says the asteroid will be "quite bright." Or view it below:
Will you be checking out the asteroid when it passes us by? Comment below!