Huge 111-foot asteroid to skim past Earth at 22,000 mph, space rock’s ‘closest encounter for 115 years’

An artist's concept of an asteroid approaching Earth. (Erik Simonsen via Photographer's Choice/Getty Images Plus)

A huge asteroid is about to skim past Earth at its closest approach in 115 years.

Astronomers have warned that the space rock 2019 TA7 will be 50 times closer to us than our closest neighboring planet Mercury.

The asteroid will be making its close approach at around 6:53 pm today.

It should skim past Earth at over 22,500 miles per hour, according to data collected by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The space rock is estimated to measure up to 111 feet in diameter, making it around three times larger than a double-decker bus.

It usually passes Earth about once a year but this evening will see it at a closer distance of 930,000 miles.

Any fast-moving space object that comes within around 4.65 million miles is considered to be "potentially hazardous" by cautious space organizations.

The asteroid is a similar size to the Chelyabinsk meteor, which exploded over Russia back in 2013.

Its impact smashed windows and injured more than 1,000 people.

Experts did not predict the impact, sparking concern that Earth could be surprised with a more devastating incident in the future.

The last time asteroid 2019 TA7 came as close to Earth as it will be this evening was on October 14, 1904.

It will return for another close approach in 2021.

This story originally appeared in The Sun.