The object, known as Asteroid 2006 QQ23, is expected to skim past Earth within a week. The celestial body is around 570 metres in diameter and is one of around six asteroids of this size that come by Earth each year. NASA has dispelled concerns that the rock – which has been branded as “potentially hazardous” – will hit Earth.
Planetary defence officers for NASA Lindley Johnson and Kelly Fast told CNN that there is nothing to fear.
Ms Fast said: “It’s the ones we don’t know about that we’re concerned about.”
Mr Johnson even said the asteroid was “more or less benign”.
The asteroid is expected to skim past Earth at a distance of 7.4 million kilometres on August 10.
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An asteroid of this magnitude could destroy an enormous area of Earth.
A significantly smaller meteor which was just 17 metres wide exploded near the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in 2013 ... Read even more
