An almost mile-wide asteroid known as 1999 KW4 will pass by Earth on Saturday.
by Leada Gore | lgore@al.com
An almost mile-wide asteroid known as 1999 KW4 will pass by Earth on Saturday.
The space rock is known as a binary asteroid, meaning there are actually two objects zooming by. The first is a larger asteroid. The second is a smaller object known as the asteroid’s “moon.” The moon is about a third of a mile wide and orbits around the larger asteroid every 16 hours.
The asteroid’s Earth flyby will start May 24 and last until May 27.
1999 KW4 is classified a “Potentially Hazardous Asteroid,” but that NASA designation is nothing fear, officials said. The asteroid will travel by the Earth at a safe distance of 3.2 million miles or roughly more than 13 times the distance from the Earth to the moon.
The two space rocks are traveling at a speed of about 48,000 mph.
The flyby will be the second-closest approach 1999 KW4 has made in the past two decades and the closest it will come to Earth until 2036, according to CNET.