Giant asteroid almost two kilometres in diameter to fly past earth

A giant asteroid almost two kilometres in diameter will make a (relatively) close approach later this week.

According to NASA, the enormous space rock – roughly 1.8 kilometres in diameter or four times the size of the Empire State Building – is on course to fly past this Friday (May 27).

The asteroid, known as 7335 (1989 JA), will miss our planet by some four million kilometres, but due to its monster size and "relatively close proximity" it has been deemed "potentially hazardous" by NASA.

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Scientists say 7335 (1989 JA) is one of more than 29,000 near-Earth objects (NEOs) which NASA track each year.

To become a NEO, an astronomical object must pass within roughly 48 kilometres of Earth's orbit, however the majority of which are very small.

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NASA says that 7335 (1989 JA) is the largest asteroid that will make a close approach to Earth this year and is larger than 99 per cent of NEOs that are tracked.

Estimates reveal that the object is traveling at roughly 76,000 km/h – more than 20 times faster than a bullet shot from a gun.

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Back in January, NASA tracked a similarly sized asteroid, which also became in relative proximity to earth.

The asteroid, known as (7482) 1994 PC1, had an estimated diameter of about one kilometre.

The celestial body was also classed as a potentially hazardous, but passed by Earth on January 18.