An asteroid nine times longer than a 1,900-passenger cruise ship will zoom past Earth this week at a safe distance.
The big rock called Asteroid 1998 QE2 will make its closest approach Friday at 4:59 p.m. ET. It will keep a distance of 5.8 million kilometres, or 15 times the distance between Earth and the moon. You won't be able to see it without a powerful telescope.
It's believed to be about 2.7 kilometres long, or about nine times the length of the Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise ship. But that has nothing to do with its name. The letters and number in the name represent the timing and sequence of the asteroid's discovery in 1998.
Scientists will use large radar telescopes to study its shape, rotation and surface features.
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