Asteroid Florence to Pass Earth

An asteroid named Florence will fly past Earth on Sept. 1. Florence measures 2.7 miles (4.4 kilometers) across, and is the largest object to give our planet a close shave since NASA began tracking these types of near-Earth asteroids.

Florence will pass Earth at a safe distance of 4.4 million miles (7 million kilometers). That is about 18 times the average distance from Earth to the moon, or 18 X 238,857 miles. Watch the video simulation of the track of this asteroid here.

Many asteroids have a moon and even satellites. The dog-bone shaped asteroid Kleopatra has two moons. These moons were named Alexhelios and Cleoselene in 2011. this year.

Related reading: The 7 Strangest Asteroids in the Universe