The terrifying asteroid is about to hover near Earth

An asteroid nine times larger than the yacht Queen Elizabeth 2 is about to approach the Earth later this month.

Fortunately, the giant space rock, named QE2 , only stops at about 6 million kilometers from Earth, or 15 times the distance from Earth - the moon, according to Space.com.

QE2 in the upcoming encounter with Earth - (Photo: NASA)

According to calculations, the asteroid is about 2.3km long, ie 9 times the length of the Queen Elizabeth 2 yacht.

It was discovered on August 19, 1998, thanks to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Research Program for Near-Earth Asteroids (MIT) near Socorro, New Mexico state (USA).

It is expected that QE2 will approach Earth at the nearest distance on May 31.

Scientists plan to scan the asteroid by radar of a 70-meter-wide disk-shaped telescope of the Goldstone Observatory in the Mojave Desert in California (USA).

Even at a distance of 6 million kilometers, the researchers think that it is still possible to "spot" the parts about 3.6m in size.

This is also the last encounter of QE2 with Earth in at least 2 centuries.

In 2016, NASA will approach one of the most dangerous near-Earth objects: asteroid Bennu .

Bennu, with a width of 500m, continuously approached the Earth at a distance of 500,000km every 6 years.

Experts calculate in 2182, the probability of Bennu crashing into Earth is 1: 1,800.