![\"Saturday](\"https:\/\/wp-assets.futurism.com\/2019\/05\/asteroid-flying-earth-moon-300x158.png\")
<\/div>Buddy System<\/h2>
Earth will be getting not one but two visitors from space this weekend.<\/p>
Astronomers expect an asteroid known as 1999 KW4 to swing by the Earth at around 7:05 p.m. ET on Saturday — and when it does, it’ll bring along its very own moon.<\/p>
“It’s one of the closest binary flybys probably in recent history,” planetary scientist Vishnu Reddy told NBC News<\/em><\/a>. “That’s what makes it a very interesting target.”<\/p> Asteroid 1999 KW4 is 1.5 kilometers (.93 miles) wide. That’s about three times the size of its moon, which clocks in at a width of about 0.5 kilometers (.3 miles).<\/p> Even at their closest, the space rocks will still be more than 3 million miles away, so don’t worry about them smashing into the Earth<\/a>. In fact, they won’t even come close enough to see with the naked eye.<\/p> Still, the pair won’t be this close to Earth again until 2036, so if you want to catch a glimpse of the dynamic duo, be sure to have your telescope ready Saturday night.<\/p> READ MORE:<\/strong> Mile-wide asteroid and its tiny moon to zoom past Earth this weekend<\/a> [NBC News<\/em>]<\/p> More on asteroids: <\/strong>NASA Asks SpaceX to Help It Save Earth From Incoming Asteroids<\/a><\/em><\/p> The post Asteroid Flying by Earth Is so Big It Has Its Own Moon<\/a> appeared first on Futurism<\/a>.<\/p> Excerpt from: Buddy System Earth will be getting not one but two visitors from space this weekend. Astronomers expect an asteroid known as 1999 KW4 to swing by the Earth at around\u00a07:05 p.m Continue reading Dynamic Duo<\/h2>
Asteroid Flying by Earth Is so Big It Has Its Own Moon<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"