At the closest distance of 89 years, a giant asteroid will safely rub past Earth

According to Chinese astronomers, a comet more than three times larger than the Empire State Building will approach Earth's orbit on Tuesday evening.

However, scientists say that this once-in-a-lifetime event will not be the beginning of a science fiction disaster movie.

▲ (Image from NASA's official website)

According to NASA, asteroid 7482 (1994 PC1) is scheduled to pass over Earth around 4:51 p.m. ET, and NASA has been tracking the object for decades through its planetary defense system.

The researchers say the 1-kilometer-diameter asteroid will be about 0.01,325 astronomical units, or 1.2 million miles, from Earth's atmosphere at the closest point.

According to the researchers, this distance does not pose any threat to Earth.

NASA data shows that the last time the asteroid was so close to Earth's orbit was 89 years ago, when its closest distance was about 699,000 miles, or 0.00752 astronomical units.

The next time the asteroid gets so close to Earth will be in 2105, when it will fly 0.01556 AU, or about 1.4 million miles. (Original title: The nearest distance in 89 years, a huge asteroid will safely rub across the earth)