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Beware Earthlings! Giant Asteroid is Heading Toward the Planet

© Flickr / Lwp KommunikációEarth in space with a flying asteroid
Earth in space with a flying asteroid - Sputnik International
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You can run and you can hide, but there's no need to panic, as the “potentially hazardous” asteroid is predicted to miss our planet.

NASA has said that the Asteroid 2002 AJ 129 will pass quite close to Earth at a distance of 2,615,128 miles. At this close proximity, it has been classifies as dangerous.

The asteroid is 3,696 feet wide and it is set to "narrowly" miss the Earth on Feb. 4, flying past us at a mind-boggling 67,000 miles per hour. 

Asteroid - Sputnik International
Rock On! Close Encounter Expected As Asteroid Flies Past Earth
For the sake of comparison, the moon orbits Earth at a distance of about 238,855 miles, and this rock from outer space is going to pass our planet at more than ten times that distance.

According to the Daily Star, the asteroid will be the largest and fastest space object to fly past Earth this year.

Recently, more asteroids have been flying close by our planet, with a few giant rocks passing by in December of last year alone.

The asteroid named 2017 YZ4 came into view on Christmas Day before speeding off between the Earth and the Moon on Thursday, December 28.

At a distance of 140,000 miles, it was close enough to be considered a "near miss" by astronomers, who watched it closely. It was the size of a double-decker bus at about 15 meters wide.

Another dangerous asteroid called 2017 VL2 soared past Earth in November, 2017, at a dangerously close proximity, at just 73,000 miles from planet Earth.

According to The Watchers, this particular asteroid measured between 52-105 feet (16m and 32m) in diameter, belonging to the Apollo group of asteroids. Currently there are around 8,000 Apollo asteroids near Earth.

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