Newfound Bus-Size Asteroid Will Zoom Safely By Earth Today

A bus-size asteroid will zoom between Earth and the moon today (Oct. 19), but poses no threat of hitting our planet.

The recently discovered space rock is designated asteroid 2017 TD6. It will fly by Earth at a range of 119,000 miles (191,000 kilometers) when it makes its closest approach, which is calculated to occur at 2:53 p.m. EDT (1853 GMT). The average distance between the Earth and the moon, for comparison, is about 238,855 miles (384,400 km).

Asteroid 2017 TD6 is estimated to be between 32 and 72 feet (9.9 to 22 meters) wide, according to NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS). In comparison, the asteroid that exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013 was determined to be approximately 65 feet (20 m) wide. [In Images: Potentially Dangerous Asteroids]

The orbital path of the newly discovered asteroid 2017 TD6, a bus-sized object that will fly by Earth at an estimated 119,000 miles away on Oct. 19, 2017. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

The International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center reported that several observatories have observed 2017 TD6 in the last few days. Thoseinclude the Schiaparelli Observatory in Italy, Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) in Hawaii, and Mount Lemmon Survey in Arizona.

This flyby comes on the heels of another really close shave of Earth, by asteroid 2012 TC4. That space rock safely flew about 26,000 miles (42,000 km) above Antarctica on Oct. 12.

As with 2012 TC4, there is no threat that 2017 TD6 will hit Earth. Millions of near-Earth objects litter this planet's cosmic neighborhood, but NASA researchers and other skywatchers have discovered a majority of the rocks that could do significant damage and have found that they pose no threat for the forseeable future.

Follow Steve Spaleta on Twitter or Facebook. Follow us @SpacedotcomFacebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Steve Spaleta
Senior Producer

Steve Spaleta is Space.com's Senior Producer. Since 2007, Steve has produced and edited space, science and entertainment-related videos for Space.com. He is also the producer/writer/editor of Space.com's CosMix series on space-enthused artists. He studied psychology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and is originally from Zadar, Croatia by way of Astoria, NY. To see Steve's latest project, follow him on Twitter and follow Space.com's VideoFromSpace YouTube Channel.