Giant 'potentially hazardous' asteroid 1994 PC1 flies safely by Earth

A gigantic hazardous asteroid 1994 PC1 approximately the size of the Empire State Building passed close to the Earth's orbit on Tuesday afternoon, although it maintained a safe distance so as to not hit the habitable planet, according to NASA asteroid watch. The asteroid passed at a distance of 1.2 million miles or 1.9 million kilometres, at about five times the distance between the Earth and Moon and hence averting a mega-disaster. Another asteroid will similarly pass the Earth in this vicinity on July 3. 7482 (1994 PC1) measured at a diameter of about 1km and is classified as an Apollo asteroid by NASA. 

At distance of below 0.05 astronomical units or 7.5 million km from Earth

Asteroid 1994 PC1 came at a distance of below 0.05 astronomical units or 7.5 million km from Earth, a distance which is considered hazardous by astronomers. The celestial object made its closest approach yet for the next 200 years as it passed apparently 1 million miles from Earth, but safely. While it made the encounter, Italy's Virtual Telescope Project, which is based in Rome, hosted a Livestream starting at 3 p.m. EST (2000 GMT) for the viewers.

At the time of streaming, the asteroid 7482 (1994 PC1) was almost at its closest approach to the Earth: 1 million miles or 1.6 million kilometers. "The Virtual Telescope Project will show it live online, just at the fly-by time, when it will peak in brightness," the live stream page mentioned, according to the project founder Gianluca Masi.

Astronomers captured asteroid (7482) 1994 PC1 during a flyby of Earth in 1997. The space rock appears as a trail due to its very fast apparent motion. [Credit: Sormano Astronomical Observatory in Italy]

Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), managed by NASA at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California estimated that the asteroid’s closest path with that of the Earth was at 4:51 p.m. EST (2151 GMT). NASA updated that the 3,400-foot (1-kilometer) asteroid will get no closer than 5 lunar distances during its closest approach to our planet.

According to the space administration, the average distance from Earth to the moon, 1 lunar distance, is about 238,855 miles (384,400 km), and the comets and asteroids that come within 1.3 astronomical units (120.9 million miles, or 194.5 million km) qualify as near-Earth objects (NEOs). However, as the gigantic asteroid made its flyby, there were no impending threats to worry the humans.