An asteroid large enough to destroy a city will pass between the orbits of the Earth and the Moon this weekend – luckily for us, missing both.
The object, named 2023 DZ2, was discovered a month ago.
At 19:49 GMT on Saturday, it will pass within 175,000km of the Earth after flying past the Moon.
It is rare for such a huge asteroid – estimated to be between 40 and 90m in diameter – to come so close to the planet.
Astronomers have described it as a once-in-a decade event.
According to Nasa, it’s an important opportunity for astronomers to increase their knowledge of asteroids, in the event that a dangerous object were discovered with the potential to hit Earth.
“There is no chance of this ‘city killer’ striking Earth, but its close approach offers a great opportunity for observations,” said the European Space Agency’s planetary defence chief, Richard Moissl.
Mr Moissl said preliminary data suggested 2023 DZ2 was “a scientifically interesting object”. But he added that more data was needed to determine the asteroid’s composition.
With such a close pass of the Earth, the asteroid could be visible through binoculars and small telescopes across the globe.
A live web broadcast of its approach will be provided by The Virtual Telescope Project.
The object looks set to return towards Earth’s orbit in 2026, but scientists have ruled it out as a threat to the planet on that occasion, too.
