Giant Asteroid Bigger than Empire State Building Approaching Earth - Tasnim News Agency

(Tasnim) – A massive asteroid from NASA’s ‘potentially hazardous’ list that is two and a half times the height of New York’s Empire State Building is set to pass Earth later this month.

At 1 kilometer (3,280 feet) long, it's roughly two and a half times the height of the Empire State Building, and it's been classed a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" due to its size and its regular close visits to our planet, Science Alert reported.

But don't worry, this month's visit is going to have a very safe clearance, with the asteroid zipping by at a distance of 1.93 million kilometers (~1.2 million miles) away from Earth – that's roughly 5.15 times more distant than the Moon.

The calculations of its trajectory only come with a 133-kilometer (~83-mile) margin of error, so there's no risk we'll be colliding with this asteroid any time soon.

In fact, if you're a stargazer, you're in for a treat as it visits our skies. The closest approach will take place on January 18 at 21:51 UTC (4.51pm EST).

Known as asteroid (7482) 1994 PC1, the space rock was first discovered in 1994 by astronomer Robert McNaught at the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia.