NASA tracks 1,400-foot asteroid in close Earth flyby tomorrow
What's the story
A gigantic asteroid, bigger than San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, is set to fly by Earth on June 5, as per NASA.
The space rock, known as Asteroid 424482 (2008 DG5), measures nearly 1,400 feet in length.
That makes it larger than over 97% of asteroids out there and puts it in the top 3% by size.
It is an Apollo asteroid, meaning it passes through Earth's orbit.
Safe passage
Asteroid to pass by Earth on June 5
The asteroid is expected to come within 3.5 million kilometers of Earth, which is nine times farther away than the Moon's usual orbit around our planet at some 384,000km.
Despite its size, scientists say that this space rock poses no threat to us.
NASA has classified the 2008 DG5 as a potentially hazardous object due to its distance and size characteristics.
Impact risk
What makes an asteroid 'potentially hazardous?'
NASA considers any object larger than about 500 meters and coming within 7.5 million kilometers of Earth could potentially hit our planet.
While there's no threat from the 2008 DG5 right now, a collision with an asteroid of this size could cause severe regional destruction, including strong shockwaves and tsunamis if it were to strike water.
Historical context
Examples of asteroids that caused destruction
In 1908, a smaller asteroid about 130 feet in size exploded over Siberia, causing massive fires and destroying some 80 million trees.
The Chicxulub asteroid, which is believed to have contributed to the extinction of dinosaurs, was six to 16km wide.
The Apollo asteroid 2008 DG5 was discovered in 2008 by NASA's Near Earth Object Observation Program and will pass near Earth again in 2032.