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23 May 2022, 09:49

Giant asteroid to fly by Earth on May 27

This year it is the biggest of known and potentially hazardous objects, the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics revealed

MOSCOW, May 23. /TASS/. The largest of the known Apollo group of asteroids to pass by Earth this year will make a close approach on May 27, a Russian research institute said.

The Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics of Russia’s Academy of Sciences has released a photo of the "potentially hazardous" asteroid, named 7335 (1989 JA).

"This year it is the biggest (about 1.5 km in diameter) of known and potentially hazardous objects," the Institute said, adding it could even be seen through an amateur 20-cm aperture telescope.

The asteroid will be closest to Earth on May 27 at 05:26 p.m. Moscow time - at a distance of 4 million kilometers. It is traveling at 13 kilometers per second, the Institute said in a post on Telegram.

The asteroid poses no threat to the planet, Russia’s State Space Corporation said in a Telegram posting.