A large 656-foot asteroid will sweep the Earth tomorrow with three smaller rocks from the space in tow

A big asteroid is heading towards the Earth and our planet will pick it up tomorrow morning in what NASA describes as a "close approach". Estimated between 288 and 656 feet in diameter, the space rock calls the asteroid 2018 VX8 – and it will not come alone.

According to NASA's Center for Near-Earth Objects (CNEOS) asteroid trackers, three more space rocks are expected to switch to tomorrow's planet, the closest of which will be buzzing more than 3.5 times the Earth.

The biggest of the pack

Of the four asteroids supposed to visit Earth on Sunday 2018, the VX8 is the largest and most formidable. Discovered for the first time in late 2018, this rock of space is a frequent visitor to our corner of the solar system. Over the last century, the asteroid has executed more than 30 overflights of the Earth. However, the meeting tomorrow will be the closest that the 2018 VX8 asteroid has ever had on our planet.

Our heavenly visitor should move to the nearest approach to Earth in the early hours of Sunday morning. Data from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, shows that space rock will fly beyond our planet at 4:55 am EST.

During the near-Earth advancement of tomorrow, the 2018 VX8 asteroid will only arrive within 1.46 million miles of the planet's surface. It's a little over six times the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

The asteroid will double for another visit in a few years. His next flight over the Earth is expected to take place in 2027. However, during his next trip into the internal solar system, the 2018 VX8 asteroid will only manage to sneak within 38.1 million miles from the surface of the Earth.

Small asteroids towed

CNEOS has announced that this clever rock will be accompanied by three smaller asteroids, each popping up at different hours of Sunday. The three space rocks were all discovered earlier this month and are not expected to return to our region amidst the cosmic woods in the near future.

The first of these tiny space rocks will travel the Earth a few minutes before the 2018 VX8 asteroid, making a close, but perfectly safe approach, at 4:46 am, Eastern Time. Nicknamed the 2019 asteroid JL, the object would have a maximum width of 108 feet and will pass less than 3.4 million kilometers from Earth, JPL notes.

A little more than an hour later, the Earth will be visited by another small asteroid, with a maximum diameter of 144 feet. Known as the asteroid JO 2019, space rock will pass in front of our planet at 5:53 am ET and will be closer to the surface of the Earth than the rest of the celestial visitors of tomorrow. As JPL points out, the asteroid will approach 865,000 miles from Earth. It's about 3.64 times the distance of the moon.

The last asteroid flyby on Sunday will allow the Earth to familiarize itself with a 190-foot space rock called 2019 JM3. According to JPL, the object will pass in front of our planet at 14:01. AND. Navigating in space at an incredible speed of more than 45,000 km / h, the asteroid will bypass planet Earth at a distance of 2.5 million miles.