The large space rock, dubbed 7335 (1989 JA), is estimated to
measure around 5,900 feet across, figures from NASA's Center for Near Earth
Object Studies (CNEOS) show.
This estimate would mean you could fit roughly two of the
world's tallest buildings—the Burj Khalifa in Dubai—across its length.
According to NASA's figures, no other near-Earth object that
is scheduled to make a close approach to the Earth in 2022 is as large as 1989
JA.
The asteroid is scheduled to make its close approach on May
27, when it will come within around 2.5 million miles of the Earth—a safe
distance, albeit, relatively close in astronomical terms.
As the asteroid flies past the Earth, it will be traveling
at a staggering speed of around 47,200 miles per hour.
This is around 20 times as fast as a rifle bullet, and about
one fifth as fast as a bolt of lightning.
Among the other larger asteroids to have made a close
approach to the Earth in 2022 include the space rock 7482 (1994 PC1)—which
passed earlier this year and is thought to measure around 3,330 feet across.
These objects are known as near-Earth objects, or NEOs—a
term used to refer to any astronomical body that passes within around 30
million miles of our planet's orbit.
So far, more than 29,000 NEOs have been discovered, the
majority of which are asteroids. Most of these NEOs are also relatively small.
Some NEOs that meet certain criteria are also categorized as
"Potentially Hazardous" because of their large sizes and orbits. 1989
JA would fall into this category, for example.
But despite the name, none of the potentially hazardous NEOs
has any chance of colliding with the Earth over the next century or so,
according to the CNEOS.
"The 'Potentially Hazardous' designation simply means
over many centuries and millennia, the asteroid's orbit may evolve into one
that has a chance of impacting Earth. We do not assess these long-term
many-century possibilities of impact," CNEOS director Paul Chodas said.
More than 2,260 NEOs are categorized as "potentially
hazardous," according to the CNEOS. But there may be more out there.
"More work needs to be done in searching for more
[Potentially Hazardous asteroids] because we expect there are roughly another
couple thousand [of them] yet to be discovered. Finding as many of those as
possible is the main goal of NASA's upcoming NEO Surveyor mission," Chodas
said.