Incoming Asteroid Double the Size of the Empire State Building will Fly by Earth on April 28

A massive "potentially hazardous asteroid" possibly comparable to twice the size of the Empire State Building will fly by Earth on Thursday, April 28.

It is named 418135 (2008 AG33) and has an estimated diameter between 1,150 and 2,560 feet (350 to 870 meters).

Potentially Hazardous Asteroid

The space rock will be traveling at the speed of 23,300 miles per hour (37,400 kilometers per hour) and will have a distance of 2 million miles (3.2 million kilometers) when it passes through our planet, as per the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) - Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS).

The approaching asteroid was reportedly first detected in January 2008 by astronomers from the observatory Mt. Lemmon Sky Center in Arizona.

It last skimmed through Earth in March 2015 as part of its projected fly by every seven years, as per the NASA - CNEOS.

Near-Earth Object

The said planetary-asteroid distance is relatively eight times the average distance between Earth and the moon.

Although this is a significantly great distance based on Earth's measurements, NASA considers such a space object with the said distance as a near-Earth object (NEO).

In NASA's book, a NEO is an asteroid or comet that flies by Earth and the Sun with a perihelion distance of less than 1.3 astronomical units (AU).

Relative to the rock's distance to Earth, it should be only within 0.3 AU or within 45 million kilometers from our planet for it to be considered a NEO.

Although not all space objects are being detected, NASA continuously monitors and flags any space objects that come within 120 million mi. (193 million km.) from Earth.

Moreover, any fast-moving objects within 4.65 million mi. (7.5 million km.) are labeled as potentially hazardous, as per Live Science.

Aside from NASA, astronomers from other space agencies also monitor these space rocks, determining ahead of time if their trajectory will hit Earth or not.

Holistic monitoring of these meteors is essential but astronomers prioritize space objects that are significantly large, enough to cause serious damage or pave the way for an extinction-level impact.

Asteroid Planetary Defense

Detecting an incoming asteroid is important, but deflecting it is a whole different matter.

Since the onset of advancements in space technology, including modern telescopes, and space exploration over recent decades, it has come to the realization that an imminent planet-killing asteroid will hit Earth.

The last one was called the Chicxulub asteroid which was responsible for wiping up the dinosaurs approximately 65 million years ago.

Although an asteroid strike of this magnitude is rare, space authorities are currently engaged in measures to prevent a gigantic space rock from hitting our planet again.

Established in January 2016, NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office spearheads planetary defense efforts along with other US-based space agencies and their international partners.

Currently, NASA is involved in the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART).

The DART mission aims to deflect an incoming asteroid or any potentially life-threatening space rocks approaching Earth.

The first program of its kind, the DART involves hitting an asteroid with kinetic impact to change its motion in space.

The test was launched in November 2021 and its target subject will be the asteroid Didymos and its moonlet Dimophos, which is expected to be completed later this year.