The asteroid, known as 2002 AJ129, was discovered on January 15, 2002, by the Near Earth Asteroid Tracking project at the Maui Space Surveillance Site on Haleakala, Hawaii.

It measures between 0.3 and 0.75 miles (0.5-1.2 km) in diameter and is classified as an Apollo asteroid.

2002 AJ129’s velocity at the time of closest approach, 76,000 mph (34 km per second), is higher than the majority of near-Earth objects during an Earth flyby.

This high velocity is a result of the asteroid’s orbit, which approaches very close to the Sun — 11 million miles (18 million km).

Although 2002 AJ129 is categorized as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid, it does not pose an actual threat of colliding with our planet for the foreseeable future.

“We have been tracking this asteroid for over 14 years and know its orbit very accurately,” said Dr. Paul Chodas, manager of NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“Our calculations indicate that 2002 AJ129 has no chance of colliding with Earth on February 4 or any time over the next 100 years.”

At the time of closest approach, 2002 AJ129 will be at a distance of 2.6 million miles (4.2 million km, or about 10 times the distance between Earth and the Moon).

Source: Sci-News