The planet Earth witnesses, from time to time, various astronomical phenomena, while it has become subject to the passage of asteroids at a faster rate than before.

According to the British newspaper "The Guardian," a massive asteroid large enough to wipe out a city will harmlessly pass between the Earth and the Moon's orbit by the end of this weekend, while allowing scientists to study the object up close.

A rare event

Asteroids flying close to the Earth is common, but the US space agency (NASA) said it is rare for an asteroid to come very close to the Earth, and such events occur only once every decade. Scientists estimate the asteroid's size to be between 40 and 90 meters in diameter.

The asteroid known as 2023 DZ2 was discovered a month ago,

It is scheduled to pass at a distance of 515 thousand kilometers from the Moon on Saturday US time, and will pass over the Earth several hours later, at a speed of 28 thousand km/h.

The close encounter will allow astronomers to study the space rock from a distance slightly more than 68 thousand kilometers, less than half the distance from here to the Moon, and the asteroid is expected to be visible through binoculars and small telescopes.