Asteroid big enough to wipe out a city will pass through Earth’s orbit on this day

An asteroid with around200-feet diameter, said to be big enough to wipe out an entire city, will pass through Earth and the Moon’s orbit on March 25 while missing both, NASA has said.

The asteroid will pose no problems to both celestial bodies, but it will offer a chance for astronomers to study a space rock from just over 168,000 kilometres (100,000 miles) away.

While asteroids flying by Earth are common, NASA said that the one approaching the planet is so big that it is rare for a space rock of such size to come so close. They said that such a phenomenon happens only once a decade.

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A newly discovered #asteroid named 2023 DZ2 will safely pass by Earth on Saturday at 100K+ miles away. 🌎

While close approaches are a regular occurrence, one by an asteroid of this size (140-310 ft) happens only about once per decade, providing a unique opportunity for science. — NASA Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) March 21, 2023

The asteroid, named 2023 DZ2, was first discovered in late February 2023 by astronomers at the observatory of La Palma, in the Canary Islands, Spain.

Scientists estimate its size somewhere between 130 feet and 300 feet (40 metres and 90 metres) in diameter. It’s part of the Apollo family of asteroids.

On Saturday, 2023 DZ2 will pass within 515,000 kilometres (320,000 miles) of the Moon and, several hours later, it will hover over the Indian Ocean at about 28,000 kph (17,500 mph).

“There is no chance of this ‘city killer’ striking the Earth, but its close approach offers a great opportunity for observations,” the European Space Agency’s planetary defence chief Richard Moissl said in a statement.

For astronomers with the International Asteroid Warning Network, this chance encounter with the “city killer” asteroid will provide valuable information on how to deal with them in the future, NASA said in a tweet.

NASA has prepared the Virtual Telescope Project to provide a live webcast of the close approach of the asteroid, which won’t enter our orbit until 2026.

(With inputs from agencies)

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