LOOK UP: Huge asteroid to pass by Earth on Tuesday

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A huge asteroid is set to pass by Earth on Tuesday. According to experts at the NASA Jet-Propulsion Laboratory, this asteroid is about 1 kilometer in size, or about .6 of a mile,  which is around 2.5 times the height of the Empire State Building. Don’t worry, though, as the asteroid is set to pass by our planet safely.

The fun part is those with backyard telescopes might catch a glimpse of it as it sweeps past around 3:51 p.m. our time. This approach will be the closest for the asteroid to approach Earth for the next 200 years… and, by close, we mean about 1.2 million miles from Earth. This is roughly about 5.5 times the distance between the Earth and our moon. It will be traveling at a whopping 43,754 miles per hour, relative to Earth. If you’re looking to spot it, the asteroid will appear as a point of light, similar to a star, passing in front of “background stars” throughout the evening.

The asteroid was discovered by Robert McNaught in 1994 in Australia. Since then, NASA has been tracking it and its trajectory.