A giant asteroid the size of the Eiffel Tower will fly past our planet on Wednesday, traveling at a speed of 38,922 miles per hour (62,638 km/h), astronomers announced. Dangerous because of its size.

The asteroid (HV5 2006), about 300 meters in diameter, approached Earth at a distance of 2.4 million km, the closest asteroid to Earth this century, according to a report by the Institute of Applied Mathematics. of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

According to the Academy’s statement, “One of the most interesting near-Earth asteroids (HV5 2006) is approaching (Earth) at a distance of 2.4 million kilometers on April 26, while the asteroid will only approach Earth in April 2081.”

According to the institute, this asteroid is very large with a length of 300 meters and a brightness of 15 degrees, and it has a spherical shape, and it was discovered on April 19, 2006.

NASA previously classified 2006 HV5 as “Potentially Hazardous” (PHA) because it could cause significant damage on impact.

2006 HV5 belongs to a group called the Aden asteroids, all of which have near-Earth orbits.

It is one of more than 31,000 NEOs identified so far, many of which are believed to be waiting to be discovered in the darkness of space.