Large asteroid to pass by Earth on March 21

New Delhi : The largest asteroid to pass by planet Earth this year will come close to around 1.25 million miles (two million kilometres) on March 21, said NASA.

The asteroid has been named 2001 FO32, it is estimated to be of 3,000 feet in diameter. It was spotted around 20 years ago, said NASA.

The distance between the Earth and the asteroid will be around 5.25 times it is from the moon, but despite this the asteroid has been classified as the "potentially hazardous asteroid."

NASA said 2001 FO32 will pass by at about 77,000 miles per hour faster than the speed at which most asteroids encounter Earth.

Before you start speculating Earth’s collision with an asteroid, we would like to clarify that it is not going to happen at least in the coming century.

NASA said more than 95 percent of near-Earth asteroids the size of 2001 FO32 or larger have been catalogued and none of them has any chance of impacting our planet over the next century.

So, the only thing to look forward with the asteroid is to get maximum information about it while it passes nearby earth.