NASA is currently monitoring an asteroid that's expected to zoom just pass Earth this Saturday. How big? They say it's as large as the Empire State Building!
According to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the asteroid named NN4 is more than 1000 feet wide and travelling at more than 20,000 MPH.
Derek Buzasi, professor of physics at Florida Gulf Coast says it's bigger than 90% of all asteroids and he compared it to a major league baseball stadium.
. While this may sound scary, NASA says the asteroid will pass Earth at a safe distance. You can find information about the asteroid on NASA'sCenter for Earth Object Studies(CNEOS) website. This website monitors objects that approach close to Earth.
The last time a large asteroid hit earth was 2013 in Russia. That one was only 66 feet wide but injured 1491 people! The number of damaged buildings was tallied at over 7,200, which included some 6,040 apartment blocks, 293 medical facilities, 718 schools and universities, 100 cultural organizations, and 43 sport facilities!