NASA’s asteroid tracking system has detected three space rocks that are currently hurtling towards Earth. One of the incoming space rocks will approach Earth from a very dangerous distance.

According to NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), the first asteroid that will visit the planet’s neighborhood this weekend is called 2019 TK5. This asteroid is currently moving with a speed of almost 13,000 miles per hour. It has an estimated diameter of around 62 feet.

CNEOS noted that 2019 TK5 will zip past Earth on Oct. 19 at 3:25 am EDT. During its approach, the asteroid will only be about 0.00640 astronomical units or roughly 595,000 miles away from the planet, which is about twice the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

Although this may seem like a safe distance, a slight nudge in space could easily cause 2019 TK5 to end up on a collision course with Earth. Given its size, the asteroid will most likely burn up in the atmosphere and create a huge explosion in the sky if it ends up hitting the planet.

Trailing behind 2019 TK5 is an asteroid known as 2019 TG7. According to CNEOS, this asteroid is currently moving towards Earth with an average velocity of almost 17,000 miles per hour. The agency estimated that the asteroid is about 125 feet wide.

2019 TG7 is expected to fly past Earth on Oct. 19 at 6:40 am EDT. Unlike 2019 TK5, 2019 TG7 will approach Earth from a very safe distance. As indicated in CNEOS’ database, the asteroid will be about 0.04304 astronomical units or around 4 million miles from Earth during its approach.

The last asteroid that’s set to enter Earth’s vicinity this weekend is called 2019 SJ8. This asteroid is currently moving with a speed of around 17,000 miles per hour. It has an estimated diameter of about 256 feet, making it the largest asteroid that will visit Earth’s neighborhood this weekend.

According to CNEOS, 2019 SJ8 will zip past Earth on Oct. 19 at 7:44 pm EDT. During this time, the asteroid will be about 0.02967 astronomical units or roughly 2.8 million miles from the planet’s center.

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Pictured; an artistic illustration of an asteroid flying by Earth. NASA
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