The imposing asteroid, dubbed Asteroid 2011 HP, is hurtling in the Earth’s direction at speeds of 8.43km per second or 18,857.4mph (30,348kmh). NASA expects the asteroid to make a so-called Earth Close Approach, meaning its trajectory will bring the rock incredibly close to Earth. The US space agency has predicted the asteroid will come scraping by around 11.48am UK time or 6.48am Eastern Time. The incredible flyby will mark the second time the space rocks near-misses the Earth since its discovery in 2011.
Asteroid HP is an Apollo-type space rock, belonging to a group of rocky objects named after Asteroid 1862 Apollo.
First spotted on April 13, 2011, the asteroid has been crossing paths with Earth since at least June 16, 1904.
As a result of its frequent approaches, NASA has dubbed the asteroid a Near-Earth Object or NEO.
NEOs are all comets and asteroids on trajectories, which occasionally cut into the Earth’s orbit of the Sun.
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NASA explained: “As they orbit the Sun, Near-Earth Objects can occasionally approach close to Earth.
“Note that a ‘close’ passage astronomically can be very far away in human terms: millions or even tens of millions of kilometres.”
And if that thought was not terrifying enough, the space rock could be twice as tall as the Great Pyramid of Giza.
NASA’s asteroid trackers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) estimated Asteroid HP measures somewhere between 328ft to 754.6ft (100m to 230m) across.
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An asteroid at the upper end of the estimate is just about as tall as the iconic Golden Gate suspension bridge in San Fransisco, US.
At the lower end of the estimate, however, the asteroid is still incredibly formidable and comparable in size to Big Ben’s clock tower in London.
Any object this big could be big enough to wipe out a big city if it struck a populated area.
So, is there any concern the asteroid will come within striking distance tomorrow?
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Thankfully, even at its closest, the asteroid will miss the Earth from a distance of around 2.92 million miles (4.7 million km).
The distance is the equivalent of approximately 12.26 times the distance to the Moon.
And after the space rock swings past Earth’s little corner of space, the rock will not make another flyby until May 17, 2027.
After that, NASA expects the asteroid to next visit Earth on May 6, 2035.
