☄️ A Mᴀssive Asteroid Is Set to Fly Past Earth This Weekend—Here’s Why Scientists Aren’t Worried

NEW YORK — A large asteroid will zip past Earth this weekend, but don’t worry: It poses no danger.

The space rock — 1997 NC1 — makes its closest approach Saturday morning, coming within 1.6 million miles (2.6 million kilometers), according to the European Space Agency.

Discovered nearly three decades ago by an asteroid-tracking system in Hawaii, the asteroid is between 2,461 feet (0.75 kilometers) and 5,413 feet (1.65 kilometers) wide — roughly the size of two to four Empire State Buildings.

<ʙuттon class="ʙuттon ʙuттon--modal-trigger" aria-label="Open the image in a modal." data-modal-image="39819000">

<ʙuттon class="ʙuттon ʙuттon--modal-trigger" aria-label="Open the image in a modal." data-modal-image="39819002">

Skygazers with binoculars and small telescopes may be able to spot the asteroid as a small point of light pᴀssing harmlessly through the sky.

It won’t greet Earth from such a distance again until 2133, according to NASA.