This asteroid — which measures between 40 and 100 meters (131 to 328 feet) in size — is referred to as “city killer,” but it will do nothing of the sort. However, this weekend's flyby is still notable, experts say.
On hearing the words “city killer” and “asteroid” in the same sentence, you’d be forgiven for thinking something bad is about to happen. But not to fear. Although an asteroid with the potential to cause significant damage if it hit a populated area is coming somewhat unusually close to our planet this weekend, it is on course to pass harmlessly between the orbits of Earth and the moon. On Saturday evening, the asteroid 2023 DZ2 will fly by at a distance of 105,633 miles .
During the Tunguska event of 1908, an asteroid “sent a shockwave down and flattened 2,000 square kilometers of forest” in Siberia, Moissl said. Also, some 50,000 years ago, an iron asteroid hit what is today Arizona, between Flagstaff and Winslow on the Colorado Plateau, creating a crater 0.75 miles across and about 600 feet deep. When space rocks enter the Earth’s orbit and hit land, “if they happen in uninhabited areas, then [it’s] not much of a concern,” Moissl said.
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