Huge, ‘potentially dangerous’ asteroid set to make closer approach to Earth than ever before tonight – and you can watch it live

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A “potentially dangerous” asteroid the size of a football stadium will fly past our planet in the early hours of tomorrow morning (December 4) – and you can watch it live.

The gigantic space rock, moving at about 27,500 miles per hour (44,300 kilometers per hour), will reach a minimum distance of 1.37 million miles (2.2 million kilometers) from Earth at 12:27 a.m. ET – its closest approach our planet record, loudly NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)..

The historic flyby can be followed via a free live stream from the Virtual Telescope Project (VTP), which begins today (December 3) at 1:30 p.m. ET. 2020 XR will also be visible 8 inch (20 centimeters) telescopes, according to a statement from the European Space Agency (ESA).

The asteroid 2020 XR is classified by NASA as Object near Earthor NEO, meaning its orbit sometimes brings it within 1.3 astronomical units (AU) of the Sun – that’s 1.3 times the average distance between the Sun and Earth.

All NEOs that approach within 7,500,000 km (4,650,000 miles) of Earth and have a diameter greater than 150 meters (500 feet) are considered such “Potentially dangerous.” However, the December 4th flyby poses no threat to our planet.

Related: NASA’s Most Wanted: The 5 Most Dangerous Asteroids for Earth

“When astronomers first discovered XR in 2020, they thought it had a slim chance of hitting Earth in 2028.” Juan Luis CanoCoordinator of ESA’s Near-Earth Object Coordination Center said in the statement. “But by going back and finding the asteroid in older data, they were able to refine its trajectory and rule out any danger.”

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The asteroid is about 1,200 feet (366 m) in diameter. big enough to wipe out a small town.

The space rock last approached Earth in December 1977 – before it was discovered. However, JPL estimates that its minimum distance at that time was about 10 million miles (16 million km) further away than expected for today’s encounter.

It is expected that 2020 will not get this close to XR again until 2196 at the earliest. The next flyby of our planet is expected in November 2028. However, the minimum distance will be much further away, at an estimated 11.3 million miles (18.2 million km).