3-Mile-Wide Asteroid To MakA huge asteroid is hurtling toward Earth, but don't worry, this isn't "Armageddon." The asteroid, named Florence, is an almost three-mile wide rock that will pass safely within about 4.4 million miles of Earth (7 million kilometers) at 8:05 a.m. ET on Friday, NASA says.
And while a few million miles sounds like a lot of room, it's actually a pretty close pass when you're talking about the vastness of space. Other asteroids have passed closer to Earth than Florence, but few have been this big.
"Florence is the largest asteroid to pass by our planet this close since the NASA program to detect and track near-Earth asteroids began," Paul Chodas, manager of NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, said in a statement.
But there's no need to get Bruce Willis and his crew involved. Chodas told CNN in an email interview that Florence is not an immediate threat. "Certainly not for the next several centuries, and not likely over the next many millennia either," he said. "It's possible this asteroid could threaten our planet in the far distant future, but it's unlikely."
Florence does offer a great opportunity. Scientists think any asteroid larger than half-mile to a mile (one to two kilometers) in size could have worldwide effects if hit the planet, so they will study Florence as it zips by.
NASA says the Goldstone Solar System Radar in California and the National Science Foundation's Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico will snap radar images.
Chodas says the images will help scientists learn more about the asteroid's composition, shape, surface properties and roughness and the presence of boulders. They also may learn, he says, whether Florence has a satellite.
A Close Pass With Earth On Friday
