Close approach of asteroid 2013 NK4

Asteroid (439437) 2013 NK4 will fly past Earth today, 15 April, at 14:49 UTC (16:49 CEST). It's between 400 and 1000 m across and will come within nine times the distance between Earth and the Moon. It also makes close approaches to Venus, but we know it will not hit either planet for at least the next 100 years. 

The asteroid’s close approaches to Earth always come in pairs almost exactly one year apart. We will see it again next April, but it won't come as close as it does today. The interactions between this asteroid and our planet form a pattern that repeats every ~30 years.

Find out more about asteroids and ESA's Planetary Defence activities.