A large asteroid will speed past Earth this weekend, But don’t worry: it doesn’t pose any danger.
The space rock — named 1997 NC1 — will make its closest approach Saturday morning, 2.6 million kilometers (1.6 million miles) away, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).
Discovered nearly three decades ago by an asteroid tracking system in Hawaii, the asteroid is between 0.75 kilometers (2,461 feet) and 1.65 kilometers (5,413 feet) wide, about the size of two to four Empire State buildings.
Those who observe the sky with binoculars and small telescopes could see the asteroid as a small point of light passing harmlessly across the sky. It will not pass that distance from Earth again until 2133, according to NASA.
The last time an asteroid of similar size passed safely near our planet from an even closer distance was in 2022, when a space rock called 1994 PC1 approached.
NASA, ESA and other space agencies track the trajectories of asteroids and other space debris to keep Earth safe from potential collisions. Last year, some astronomers tracked a smaller asteroid that looked like a spinning hockey puck, noting that there’s no chance it would impact the Earth or the Moon.