An asteroid as long as the Leaning Tower of Pisa will whizz by Earth later today.
NASA has issued a near-Earth object alert on three large asteroids, two of which have already passed us by.
Measuring 51m in diameter – making it as wide as the leaning tower of Pisa is tall – 2019 AG7 is scheduled to skim past Earth on this morning at 11.43am.
Space Commentator Matthew Pavletich told Tim Dower it's expected to pass around 1.5 million kilometres away but this is still close enough to cause damage.
He says a a smaller type of asteroid broke up over Russia a few years ago causing multiple injuries, so the danger signs are certainly there for this one.
"In February of 2013 a fairly large asteroid, possibly 20m by diameter, broke up over the atmosphere and there were quite a few injuries on the ground."
Pavletich believes that because of the advancement of technology from NASA, there is very little chance of any real danger to humans from the asteroid, but because of the unpredictability of space science, anything is possible.
"They measure it very precisely and reliably using the best technology. It is going to pass four times the distance between the Earth and the Moon."
Luckily, asteroids are actually classified as "small bodies" by NASA, which mean they do not believe the objects pose any threat to life on Earth.
LISTEN ABOVE AS MATTHEW PAVLETICH SPEAKS TO TIM DOWER
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