A large asteroid is coming close to Earth on April 19th. While NASA emphasizes that 2014 JO25, as the asteroid is known, has no chance of hitting the planet, it will provide a rare chance to observe an asteroid of its size up close.
JO25 was discovered in 2014 by astronomers at the Catalina Sky Survey near Tucson, Arizona, part of NASA's Near Earth Observations Program with the University of Arizona. NASA estimates that it is roughly 2,000 feet (650 meters) in size and, crucially for any stargazers, has a surface twice as reflective as the moon.
At a distance of 1.1 million miles away from us, this is the closest a big asteroid has gotten to the Earth since 2004. And while one million miles may sound like a lot, it's awfully close in the vastness of space. The asteroid should become visible in the night sky on April 19th. It's the second near-miss Earth has gotten this year.