Are we about to get “rocked?”

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has issued a warning for a monstrous asteroid that is expected to rocket past Earth on Tuesday evening.

Dubbed 2024 ON, the celestial space rock measures 950 feet in diameter — approximately the size of a football stadium.

The entity is being monitored by the Virtual Telescope Project, which captured the “potentially hazardous” asteroid on Sept. 9 zipping along at nearly 25,000 miles per hour, The Independent reported.

Asteroid 2024 On (not pictured) is one of five asteroids that were observed passing close to home of late with the others ranging between house and airplane-sized. dimazel – stock.adobe.com

Despite 2024 On’s intimidating speed and size, it’s expected to pass about 621,000 miles from Earth, or 2.6 times further out than the moon’s average distance, Yahoo News reported.

As such, the cosmic boulder isn’t believed to be a threat.

If it deviates from its current trajectory, however, this could have major consequences, per The Independent.

The intergalactic gravel stone first passed by Earth in 2013, and is not expected to make a comeback until the year 2035.

Asteroid 2024 On is one of five asteroids that were observed passing close to home of late with the others ranging between house and airplane-sized.

The closest passed within 326,000 miles of our planet yesterday — “a safe distance,” per NASA Solar System Ambassador Brenda Culbertson.

These interstellar pebbles are Near Earth Asteroids (NEO), which NASA defines as larger than 460 feet across and boasting orbits that bring them within 4.6 million miles from Earth’s orbit around the sun.


Asteroid orbit diagram.
Asteroid orbit diagram. The 2024 ON asteroid last came close to Earth in 2013. NASA

Fortunately, there’s no need to brace for armageddon anytime soon.

There are no known significant dangers of impact for the next century or so, per the space org.

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