Prepare for a cosmic close call this Friday as asteroid 2011 AM24, roughly the size of a football stadium, makes its closest approach to Earth in years. Expected to pass within 4 million miles of our planet—about 17 times the distance between Earth and the moon—the asteroid is being closely monitored by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Although the asteroid poses no immediate threat, it’s classified as a "potentially hazardous object" due to its proximity and size.

The massive rock will fly by Earth around 10:56 a.m. EDT on July 26, 2024. While the asteroid may not be visible to the naked eye from Earth, sky enthusiasts can still catch the event through NASA’s virtual asteroid tracker and the Virtual Telescope Project’s livestream. These tools will offer real-time tracking of 2011 AM24’s journey across the solar system.

Asteroid 2011 AM24, which orbits Earth every 467 days, will make its next close approach on September 21, 2038, but from a much greater distance of about 17 million miles. With over 1.3 million asteroids estimated to be in our solar system, NASA remains vigilant about monitoring potential threats. This event underscores ongoing efforts by space agencies to study and prepare for possible future asteroid impacts, exemplified by NASA’s recent missions like the Double Asteroid Deflection Test and the OSIRIS-REx mission.

(Credits: Arianna Johnson for Forbes)