2,000-foot-wide 'potentially hazardous' asteroid has just made its closest approach to Earth — and you can see it with a telescope

An illustration of an asteroid with Earth in the background.

A "city-killer" asteroid has just made its closest approach to Earth since records began, sailing safely past our planet at more than eight times the average distance between Earth and the moon. Despite being classified as "potentially hazardous," the gigantic space rock poses no threat to our planet. But for the first time ever, it will be visible via amateur telescopes over the next three nights (April 15 - April 17).

The hefty asteroid, named 2013 NK4, is around 2,000 feet (610 meters) wide, making it about twice the size of the "god of chaos" asteroid Apophis, which will make a superclose approach to Earth in 2029, EarthSky reported.