An enormous asteroid with the potential to destroy an entire city will skim past Earth this evening.
Astronomers say the space rock, called 2026 JH2, is up to four times the size of a London bus and will get ‘as close as you can without hitting’.
It is expected to zoom by our planet at an estimated distance of around 56,000 miles (90,000km) at 10:23pm BST.
This is exceptionally close – the equivalent of just a quarter of the distance between us and the moon.
Estimates place the size of the space rock between 52 and 115ft (16 and 35 metres) in diameter, and it is racing towards Earth at around 20,000mph (32,000 kmph).
Despite having enough mass to wipe out a city, simulations suggest there is no chance of impact for at least the next 100 years.
While it will be too faint to see with the naked eye, it may be visible through amateur telescopes under dark sky conditions. But for those without access to stargazing equipment, you can still watch the unusually close encounter.
Astronomers in Italy will be sharing a livestream of the flyby, recorded through a telescope, on The Virtual Telescope Project’s YouTube channel. The broadcast will start at 8:45pm BST.
This illustration shows the orbit of asteroid 2026 JH2 (grey) relative to Earth’s orbit (light blue). Its oval–shaped orbit takes it nearly as far out as Jupiter
Thankfully, simulations suggest there is no chance of an impact for at least the next 100 years (stock image)
People in the UK will have the best chance of spotting asteroid 2026 JH2 from dark–sky locations with a clear northern horizon.
Around closest approach, it should be moving through the region of Ursa Major, fairly high in the sky.
Binoculars probably won’t be good enough unless they are very large. However, it should be visible with small telescopes.
It will look like a faint moving dot, rather than a dramatic streak.
The asteroid was first discovered on May 10 by astronomers at the Mount Lemmon Observatory near Tucson in Arizona.
Data suggests it likely circles the sun every 3.7 years on an oval–shaped orbit that takes it nearly as far out as Jupiter.
The size of the asteroid is an estimate based on the amount of light reflecting off its surface, which means that measurements cannot be entirely certain.
If the asteroid is made of a particularly dark or unreflective material, then it could be nearer to the higher end of the estimate range or potentially even larger.
2026 JH2 is expected to zoom by our planet at an estimated distance of around 56,000 miles (90,000km) tonight
Estimated to be between 16 and 35 metres (52 to 115ft) across, 2026 JH2 is a similar size to the 20–metre Chelyabinsk meteor (pictured), which exploded with 30 times the energy of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima
However, even at the lower end of its estimated range, the asteroid still carries a huge destructive potential.
‘It’s the kind of thing that would ruin a city quite efficiently, if it hit,’ Mark Norris, from the University of Lancashire, told New Scientist.
Experts say if 2026 JH2 did strike Earth, it would cause an event comparable to the Chelyabinsk meteor.
In 2013, an 18–metre (59ft) meteor exploded over the city of Chelyabinsk in Russia, near the border with Kazakhstan.
The resulting explosion was 30 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, producing a shockwave that travelled twice around the world.
Directly beneath the explosion, 28 miles (45km) above the ground, the heat was so intense that people were left with burns and retinal damage.
Around 1,500 people were injured and over 3,600 homes were damaged, even though only 0.05 per cent of the original rock made it to the ground.
With a potential size up to 35 metres (115ft) in diameter, 2026 JH2 has the potential to be even more destructive – possibly even ranking it as a ‘city killer’ size asteroid.
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However, although the asteroid will pass extremely close to the planet, it poses no threat whatsoever to Earth.
Thanks to careful study by the network of planetary defence telescopes, astronomers are able to make very precise calculations of asteroids’ orbits
The next sizable space rock that will get this close to Earth will likely be the ‘God of Chaos’ asteroid, 99942 Apophis, which will fly within 20,000 miles (32,000 km) of Earth on April 13, 2029.
After Apophis, the next major flyby will be from 2024 YR4, also known as the ‘city killer’ asteroid, which will zoom past the moon at a minimum distance of around 13,200 miles (21,200 km) in 2032.
