Huge asteroid the size of Big Ben will get closer to Earth than the MOON on ... trends now
A massive asteroid almost the size of London's iconic clock tower Big Ben will come within 107,500 miles (173,000 km) of Earth on Saturday - twice as close as the moon, which orbits at an average distance of 238,855 miles (384,400 km).
The space rock, dubbed '2023 DZ2', is currently estimated to be up to 305 feet (93 m) in diameter, while Big Ben stands at 315 feet (96 m).
It is also three times as large as the Chelyabinsk asteroid that struck Russia in 2013, which sent a shockwave twice around the globe.
2023 DZ2 is estimated to make its closest approach to Earth at 19:51 GMT (15:51 EDT), speeding by at 17,426 mph (28,044 kph).
NASA says that an object of this size passing so close to Earth happens 'only about once per decade'.
A massive asteroid almost the size of London's iconic clock tower Big Ben will come within 107,500 miles (173,000 km) of Earth on Saturday - twice as close as the moon, which orbits at an average distance of 238,855 miles (384,400 km)
2023 DZ2 (pictured) is estimated to make its closest approach to Earth at 19:51 GMT (15:51 EDT) on Saturday, speeding by at 17,426 mph (28,044 kph)
The US space agency's Asteroid Watch team tweeted: 'Astronomers with the International Asteroid Warning Network are using this close approach to learn as much as possible about 2023 DZ2 in a short time period - good practice for #PlanetaryDefense in the future if a potential asteroid threat were ever discovered.'
The asteroid was discovered on February 27 this year by scientists working with the European Near Earth Asteroids Research project.
They observed it using the Isaac Newton Telescope at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma in the Canary Islands.
At the time is was 9.9 million miles (16 million km) from Earth, and took about 3.16 years to orbit the sun.
But after passing our planet this weekend and being exposed to its gravity, its orbital period will be reduced to about 3.01 years.
2023 DZ2 is an Apollo asteroid, meaning it crosses the orbit of the Earth just like the asteroid named 'Apollo' in 1862, which was the first to be observed doing this.
While it is not known exactly where it came from, most near-Earth asteroids originate from the 'main' asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars.
NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office says that 'the vast majority of near-Earth asteroids have come from inner part of the main belt where, over tens of millions of years, their orbits were altered by the gravitational influence of Jupiter and Mars, and some by mutual collisions.'
While the maximum potential diameter of 2023 DZ2 is 315 feet (96 m), scientists claim it could be as small as 135 feet (41 m).
The Chelyabinsk asteroid, which caused widespread damage and injured more than 1,600 people when it struck, measured only 62 feet (19 m).
2023 DZ2 was briefly given a one in 430 chance of impacting the Earth on
