A Gigantic 1,600-ft wide asteroid to come close to Earth, says NASA; know when- Countdown on

tech.hindustantimes.com:

In just 72 hours, the Earth will need to brace itself for a potential asteroid strike. According to NASA, an asteroid which is larger than the Empire State Building in New York City will come dangerously close to our planet. This 1,600-feet wide asteroid poses a threat unlike most asteroids this year due to its massive size and close proximity to Earth. If the asteroid were to impact the Earth, humanity will surely witness massive amounts of destruction as well as long term consequences in terms of forest fires, drastic changes to climate, earthquakes, tsunamis and more- something on the lines of what happened to the dinosaurs. Find out the chances of this asteroid striking Earth. Also read: A large asteroid came very close to the Earth on Monday.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory that is run by NASA has revealed that the asteroid is named 388945 (2008 TZ3) and it is 1600-feet or 488 meters wide. The space rock is going to make its closest approach to the Earth at a distance of 5,710,000 kilometers on May 15. The asteroid is moving at a mind-numbing speed of 29,520 km/h. Even though it sounds like a large distance, at the high speed it is traveling, it can cover the distance in a matter of hours. In fact, due to its close proximity to the Earth, the asteroid has been billed as a near Earth (NEO) asteroid. NASA has been continuously watching the asteroid to ensure that it maintains its distance. At the moment, it is expected that the asteroid will make a safe passage and is not likely to impact against Earth.

As the asteroid 2008 TZ3 veers too close to the Earth, it has been classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid. This Apollo-class asteroid comes close to the Earth every two years as its orbit period is approximately