While 2020 continues to be a difficult year, there is a little good news to look forward to tonight (June 5): a near-Earth asteroid will whiz safely by our planet, and astronomers may be able to see the monster rock’s flight through telescopes.
The asteroid, known as 2002 NN4, is approaching Earth – but fortunately, not too closely. The space rock will fly by at the equivalent of 13.25 times the distance between Earth and the moon, which is roughly 3.2 million miles (5.2 million kilometers) from our planet. The asteroid’s closest approach to us will be at 11:20 p.m. EDT (0320 GMT June 6).