This Sunday, an asteroid larger than Manhattan – large enough it could end civilization, or at least wreck a country – is casually flying by Earth. Don’t panic. This rocky beast named (887) Alinda has zero chance of hitting the blue marble anytime soon.

A massive asteroid, (887) Alinda, is set to make its closest approach to Earth in a century, providing a spectacular opportunity for skywatchers. Discovered in 1918 by German astronomer Max Wolf, Alinda measures about 4.2 kilometers in diameter, making it one of the larger near-Earth asteroids.

The asteroid is so large it should be viewable with ordinary binoculars. The post Asteroid larger than Manhattan to fly by Earth appeared first on Talker.