Car-sized asteroid approaching Earth tonight at 11,000 mph: Is it dangerous?

A newly discovered asteroid is approaching Earth tonight, passing closer than the Moon. The astronomers first spotted it just three days earlier.

It is believed that the car-sized asteroid is passing closer than the Moon.

The asteroid named 2026 FM3 will be closest to Earth at 10:07 p.m. EDT on March 24. As reported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the asteroid is travelling at 11,461 miles per hour.

The asteroid will come within the range of 147,836 miles of Earth’s southern hemisphere, which is roughly 62% of the distance to the Moon.

First discovered by the Zwicky Transient Facility at California’s Palomar Observatory, the asteroid is about 13 to 26 ft in diameter.

Scientists consider it no threat to either Moon or Earth, as its trajectory takes it safely past both bodies.

From early observations, it is found that the asteroid follows a near-circular 354-day orbit around the Sun that crosses Earth’s path biannually.

Since September 1965, it has been considered the closest known encounter. NASA confirms that no such close approaches are expected for at least the next century.

2026 FM3 is among 41,000 near-Earth asteroids discovered so far. The asteroid is part of a group of space rocks that are making close approaches to Earth this week. The group includes a planet-sized asteroid, called 2026 FX3.

The atmosphere of Earth offers a natural defense against smaller asteroids, which burn up as bright fireballs. Asteroids of this size strike Earth once every ten years or so, sometimes producing sonic booms.