Asteroid bigger than New York's Empire State Building to pass by Earth on May 15: NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) claimed that a huge asteroid is approaching Earth and is expected to make a "close approach" on Sunday. The size of the asteroid 2008 TZ3 is expected to be around 490m wide, which is 50m more than New York's Empire State Building's height. According to NASA, the asteroid has been categorized as "potentially hazardous" owing to its predicted close passes. When an asteroid approaches within 4.65 million miles and is larger than a specific size, space officials consider it "possibly hazardous," New York Post reported.

NASA stated that the asteroid will make its closest approach to Earth at around 5:18 PM EST and 9:18 PM GMT on May 15. It further claimed that the asteroid is expected to pass at a speed of just over 18,000 miles per hour. Meanwhile, some researchers believe that the Earth is not yet prepared to protect itself against potentially devastating asteroids. Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, has previously expressed concern, suggesting that "a large rock will ultimately hit Earth and that we presently have no defence."

The huge asteroid also passed Earth in 2020

However, NASA is exploring various defence options as it recently launched a mission called the 'Double Asteroid Redirection Test' (DART). "DART is the first-ever mission dedicated to investigating and demonstrating one method of asteroid deflection by changing an asteroid’s motion in space through kinetic impact," NASA stated. Notably, this isn't the first time this particular asteroid will fly past Earth. The enormous space rock passed by the planet in May 2020 at a distance of around 2.75 million kilometres. It isn't projected to come back that close to Earth again until May 2163. 

What are asteroids?

It is significant to mention here that asteroids are usually small, rocky objects that orbit the sun. Although asteroids orbit the sun in the same way as planets, they are much smaller than planets. The solar system is filled with asteroids. The majority of them exist in the main asteroid belt, which lies between Mars and Jupiter's orbits. Asteroids, regardless of their size, can be harmful. Many have collided with Earth in the past, and more will do so in the future. This is one of the reasons scientists are interested to learn more about their numbers, orbits, and physical properties.