An asteroid discovered a week ago will be flying closest to earth tonight

• Asteroid 2019 QE1 was only spotted by astronomers on 22 August 2019.
• It’s approach tonight is the closest that the asteroid will come to Earth with future fly bys estimated to get further away.
• It will be 5 million kilometers from the planet and flying at a speed of 23,796 kilometers per hour.

An asteroid dubbed 2019 QE1 will fly past the Earth tonight. But, astronomers only spotted it on 22 August 2019.

It will be the closest that asteroid 2019 QE 1 will come to the Earth — which is 5 million kilometers.

It’s next approach is scheduled for 14 August 2105, nearly a century later. By that time, it will be at least 32 million kilometers from Earth.

The event was flagged by the National Aeronautics and Space Agency’s (NASA) Asteroid Watch. However, it’s a fairly small asteroid with a diameter between 25 meters to 56 meters — more or less the size of an airplane. Yet, it has been defined as a ‘potentially hazardous asteroid’.

It will be speeding past the planet at a speed of 23,796 kilometers per hour, which is fairly reasonable speed for an asteroid.

If the space was a highway, asteroid 2019 QE1 would be well within the speed limit. Scientists believe it would take an asteroid the size of a house traveling at 48,000 kilometers an hour colliding with Earth to generate an impact equivalent to the Hiroshima nuclear bomb.