A space rock almost twice the size of the Eiffel Tower is due to fly by the Earth on August 10.
According to NASA, Asteroid 2006 QQ23 is 570 meters (1,870 feet) in diameter and is traveling at speeds of approximately 16,740 kilometers per hour (10,400 miles per hour). It will come close enough to be classified as a near-Earth asteroid and is branded "potentially hazardous" – but astronomers are clear that there is nothing to fear from the celestial object.
To meet "potentially hazardous" status, an asteroid has to pass within a distance of 0.05 astronomical units from the Earth and at 0.049 astronomical units, Asteroid 2006 QQ23 only just meets the criteria. To put that into perspective, 0.049 astronomical units translates to 7.48 million kilometers (or 4.65 million miles).
As Lindley Johnson from NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office told CNN, it is "more or less benign". Around six objects of its size come this close to Earth in any one year, so it is nothing out of the ordinary. An impact is a much rarer event and only takes place once every two or three centuries, Johnson added.