A harmless asteroid will whiz past Earth on Saturday. Here’s how to spot it.

An asteroid will whiz harmlessly past Earth, making its closest approach on Saturday morning.

An asteroid will whiz harmlessly past Earth this weekend. With the right equipment and timing, you just might spot it.

Called 2024 MK, the space rock will make its closest approach to Earth Saturday morning, passing by at about three-quarters the distance from Earth to the moon. It was first spotted two weeks ago by a South African observatory and is about 393 feet to 853 feet (120 meters to 260 meters) wide.

Smaller objects shoot past Earth all the time, according to asteroid expert Davide Farnocchia with NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies. Asteroids the size of this latest one fly by about every 25 years or so.

“We’re going to see a few of those during our lifetimes, but it’s not something that happens every other day,” he said.

A 7,579-foot (2,310-meter) asteroid flew safely past Earth Thursday, but it was farther away and was only visible to professional telescopes.

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/asteroid-whiz-by-earth-how-to-spot-rcna159507

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