Nasa predicts a 30,000mph ‘close approach’ of a giant space rock

A massive space rock will fly by Earth tomorrow.

According to Nasa trackers, asteroid 2013 BO76 will fly by on Thursday at a staggering 30,000 miles per hour.

It’s roughly the same size as the Empire State Building, measuring up to 450 metres across.

Fortunately, the fast-moving object is expected to miss our planet by a wide margin.

According to data from Nasa’s Near-Earth Object database, it will fly by at a safe distance of around 3.1 million miles.

That’s 13 times the distance between Earth and the Moon – a close call in space terms.

How do asteroids get their names?

The International Astronomical Union’s Committee on Small Body Nomenclature is lax when it comes to naming asteroids.

As a result, a massive space rock named Mr Spock orbits the Sun, named after the Star Trek character.

Another space rock is named after rock musician Frank Zappa.

There are more solemn memorials, such as the seven asteroids named after the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia, which was destroyed in 2003.

According to NASA, asteroids are also given names based on places and other factors.

Did an asteroid kill the dinosaurs?

A team of scientists evaluating whether the newer theory that volcanoes caused the dinosaurs’ extinction was correct claimed that the dinosaurs’ extinction was definitely caused by an asteroid impact.

The researchers used a variety of methods to evaluate ancient temperature records as well as the amount of greenhouse gases that could have been present in the atmosphere.

According to the study’s findings, volcanic gases may have still played a role in the dinosaurs’ extinction.