An asteroid the size of the Eiffel Tower is heading in Earth’s direction in December. Should you worry?
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This undated image made available by NASA shows the asteroid Bennu from the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. An asteroid about the size of the Eiffel Tower in Paris will pass by Earth in December, giving scientists a chance to explore another asteroid.© NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona/CSA/York/MDA via Associated Press This undated image made available by NASA shows the asteroid Bennu from the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. An asteroid about the size of the Eiffel Tower in Paris will pass by Earth in December, giving scientists a chance to explore another asteroid.
An asteroid about the size of the Eiffel Tower in Paris will pass by Earth in December, giving scientists a chance to explore another asteroid.
The asteroid — called 4660 Nereus, or 1982 DB — is an egg-shaped asteroid about the size of the famous Paris monument.
It’s expected to pass by Earth on Dec. 11.
The asteroid will be about 2.4 million miles (3.9 million kilometers) away from Earth.
The Earth and the moon are about 385,000 kilometers away from each other, per The Jerusalem Post. So that should give you some context about how far it will be from Earth.
But, according to The Jerusalem Post, the proximity of the asteroid could give scientists a chance to explore the moving space rock. There are no current missions planned for the asteroid, but it could be considered before it passes Earth.
Massive asteroids have a tendency to pass by Earth. In March, an asteroid close to the size of the Golden Gate Bridge passed by Earth, CBS News reports. That asteroid was the largest and fastest space rock to pass by Earth in 2021.
There was no chance of this asteroid hitting Earth, as the Deseret News reported.
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