Huge asteroid flies past Earth - closer than any other celestial body

An asteroid the size of two Empire State Buildings is heading towards Earth. On 18 January 2022, it will fly past it at a distance of around 2 million kilometres.

Asteroid 7482 is between one and 1.3 kilometres in size and is classified as "potentially hazardous" by Nasa. If it were to strike, it would trigger a catastrophe.

Asteroids as small as 140 metres would cause 1000 times more damage than a nuclear bomb. A celestial body with a size of 300 metres would level an entire continent to the ground.

However, such a catastrophe is very unlikely. After all, 7482 flies past the Earth at a distance five times greater than the distance between the Earth and the Moon. It is also not the only "potentially dangerous" asteroid to fly past our home planet this month. Asteroid 2013 YD48 streaks past Earth at a distance of about 6 million kilometres. Asteroid 2017 XC62 misses it by about 7 million kilometres.