Two large asteroids will make extremely close passes of Earth over the next couple of days. While a number of asteroids - classed as Near Earth Objects (NEOs) - pass the Earth on a regular basis, these two will make an exceptionally close flyby. On Tuesday, an object dubbed 2019 MB4 will pass at just 315 000km from Earth, a closer distance than the moon, which averages 385 000km away from the planet. "This object is about the same size as Chelyabinsk asteroid of February 15, 2013. A larger asteroid, it was first observed at Pan-STARRS, Haleakala observatory in Hawaii on June 29 and its estimated diameter is between 17m and 38m (55 - 124 feet). Its closest approach to Earth is expected at 07:20 UTC on July 9 at a speed (relative to the Earth) of 7.17km/s," SAAO Science Engagement Astronomer Dr Daniel Cunnama told News24. This asteroid is estimated to be 22m long - around half the length of an Airbus A380-800 - the biggest passenger plane in the world. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory data