NASA Asteroid tracker: Enormous asteroid the size of Big Ben hurtles towards Earth

The huge asteroid is set to journey within a “close” proximity of the planet on August 16. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) registered the asteroid and named it PJ. Scientists at the JPL believe the asteroid could be up to 99m in diameter, which is larger than Big Ben.

The asteroid will be travelling at a staggering speed of 31,317mph as it barrels past the Earth.

Asteroids registered by the JPL are labelled as near-Earth objects (NEOs) under NASA’s close approach data.

An NEO is an asteroid or comet which is on an orbital path intersecting that of the Earth’s.

As NEOs orbit the Sun they can sometimes fly within a close proximity of the Earth.

READ MORE: Asteroid TERROR: Fears of human EXTINCTION over mega rock strike 

While being called “close” or “near”, it can actually mean as far away from Earth as millions of miles.

PJ will miss colliding with the Earth at a safe distance of over 2.5million miles.

A second asteroid, PN22, is set to follow in its path the next day.

This asteroid is much smaller at only 19m in diameter.

PN22 is also much slower as it is estimated to be flying past the earth at 5144mph.

It will pass the earth at a comfortable distance of over 4million miles.

NASA assures on its JPL website, “no one should be overly concerned” about the impact of an asteroid or comet.

Most of these rarely hit Earth while the planet’s atmosphere usually clears up smaller asteroids.

source: express.co.uk