An asteroid as big as a skyscraper looks set to pass within 1.7m miles of Earth in just hours.
Nasa’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies estimates the space rock is between 690 and 1,575 feet.
Such an estimate would make it a similar size to New York City’s Empire State Building or Chicago’s Willis Tower.
The asteroid was discovered in 2008 and designated as 2008 OS7.
An asteroid as big as a skyscraper looks set to pass within 1.7 million miles of Earth in just hours
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It is not expected to return to the vicinity of Earth until 2032.
However, it should remain at a distant encounter, around 45 million miles away.
There will be a number of other encounters this week.
Three much smaller asteroids also will harmlessly buzz the Earth on Friday.
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Another two will also fly past on Saturday.
An asteroid roughly half the size of 2008 0S7 will swing by on Sunday but approximately 4.5 miles away.
The 2008 0S7 satellite has little chance of hitting Earth.
It is expected to miss our planet by seven times the distance from the Earth to the moon.
It is expected to miss our planet by seven times the distance from the Earth to the moon
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Dr Minjae Kim, a Research Fellow in Department of Physics at the University of Warwick told the Daily Mail: “We don't need to worry about it too much as this asteroid will not enter Earth's atmosphere, while this will still approach close to the Earth.”
Dr Jim added: “2008 OS7, a very small asteroid whose orbit intersects with that of Earth, has been classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA).
“There are more than millions of asteroids in our solar system, of which approximately 2,350 asteroids have been classified as PHAs.
“The next significant approach to Earth by a PHA will be the 99942 Apophis on April 14 2029.”
