A Huge Asteroid Will Fly Past Earth Next Month

Lynne Versluys

A Harmless NEO

It's probably best that the average person isn't aware of the objects hurtling through space that come into very close proximity of our planet. It's better to hear about the harmless ones, flying by at a relatively safe distance.

That's the case with the latest Near Earth Object (NEO) that's set to pass earth next month. Asteroid 2000 QW7 is set to pass Earth on September 14 according to research from Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS).

The Size Of The Tallest Building On Earth

Asteroid 2000 QW7 is rather large, estimated to be 290 and 650 meters (951 and 2,132 feet), making it the size of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. Not only is it absolutely massive, but it's flying through space at the speed of 14,361 mph.

Luckily, Asteroid 2000 QW7 is keeping its distance, only coming within 0.03564 astronomical units of Earth, which is approximately 3.3 million miles.

Planning For Future Threats

While all this talk of asteroids plummeting towards Earth tends to get people excited and humming Aerosmith, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine explained that real life is not like Armageddon and that there are serious plans in place for that kind of potentially catastrophic event.

"We have to make sure that people understand that this is not about Hollywood, it's not about movies. This is about ultimately protecting the only planet we know right now to host life, and that is the planet Earth."