"The 38-metre (124ft) space rock will make an exceptionally close pass of our planet at blistering speeds over 28,000 miles per hour (45,000 km/h). At its closest point, the asteroid will be just 35,465 miles (218,009 kilometres) from the surface of Earth. That is just over half the distance between Earth and the Moon. The asteroid, dubbed 2025 QD8, will make its pass of Earth at 15:56 BST tomorrow afternoon."
"At almost 40 metres in diameter, this chunk of debris has the potential to be a 'city killer' if it were to collide with the planet. However, scientists say there is no reason to be worried. According to NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA), 2025 QD8 will harmlessly whizz past Earth, without any risk of collision. Following its discovery earlier this year, the asteroid 2025 QD8 was spotted by a group of amateur astronomers from the Virtual Telescope Project."
"Using a 17-inch telescope, the astronomers managed to capture an image of 2025 QD8 while it was 2.4 million miles (3.9 million km) from Earth. This confirmed that the asteroid is between 17 and 38 metres (55-125 feet) wide, and is travelling directly towards Earth. The size of the asteroid is an estimate based on the amount of light reflecting off its surface, which means that measurements cannot be entirely certain."
A near-Earth asteroid named 2025 QD8, estimated at 17–38 metres in diameter (around the size of a commercial jet), will pass approximately 35,465 miles (218,009 km) from Earth at about 28,000 mph. The closest approach occurs at 15:56 BST tomorrow. NASA and the European Space Agency confirm there is no collision risk. Amateur astronomers from the Virtual Telescope Project captured images when the object was 2.4 million miles away, enabling size estimates based on reflected light; uncertainties remain because surface reflectivity could make the asteroid larger than initial estimates. The object could cause significant local effects if it impacted.
Read at Mail Online
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