“That’s because the gravitational tug of the planets could, over time, cause an object’s orbital path to evolve into an Earth-crossing orbit. This allows for the possibility of a future collision.”
When Asteroid WH1 approaches Earth, it will reach speeds of around 11.77km per second or 26,328mph (42372km/h).
Thankfully, NASA does not expect the space rock to approach Earth close enough to pose any real threat.
At its closest, the asteroid will arrive within about 0.03904 astronomical units.
One astronomical unit describes the average distance from Earth to the Sun – about 93 million miles (149.6 million km).
