A large asteroid designated 1998 OR2 is expected to flyby Earth at 16.36 LD / 0.04205 AU (6.2 million km / 3.9 million miles) at 09:56 UTC on April 29, 2020.
1998 OR2 was discovered at Haleakala in Hawaii on July 24, 1998, by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Near-Earth Asteroid Tracking (NEAT) program.
The object belongs to the Amor group of asteroids and has an estimated diameter between 1.8 and 4.1 km (1.1 miles to 2.5 miles).
1998 OR2 will pass within 6.2 million km (3.9 million miles) of Earth at a speed (relative to the Earth) of 8.70 km/s at 09:56 UTC on April 29.
Although NASA classifies asteroids that approach within less than 7.5 million km (4.6 million miles) of Earth as “potentially hazardous”, it said there is nothing to worry about. “The orbit is well understood and it will pass harmlessly,” NASA said.
