Scientists at NASA are tracking six asteroids that will be heading in the direction of our planet during the next few weeks, and one of them is larger than the Empire State Building.

But, first things first. Take a deep breath. Experts are assuring us there’s no reason to panic.

Yes, an asteroid that’s almost 1,900 feet in diameter and zipping at a speed of 10,000 mph is capable of causing massive destruction if it were to make a direct hit on any city on Earth. However, it will be tracking about 5 million miles away from our planet when it flies past us on Aug. 10, according to a report by CNN.

That is a safe distance, although it still warrants monitoring by NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office because it is considered a “near-Earth object,” CNN said.

To help put the distance into perspective, the moon is about 238,855 miles away from Earth and the sun is about 93 million miles away.

Asteroid 2019 OK narrowly misses Earth



Asteroid 2019 OK came within 45,000 miles of Earth, and narrowly missed hitting our Planet. Scientists weren’t tracking 2019 OK till it was too late for them to do anything about it. #Asteroid2019OK pic.twitter.com/r5rdv9oH4r — The-Pulse (@ThePulseIndia) July 30, 2019

Other asteroids zipping around

The government space agency is also monitoring five other asteroids that are zipping around in outer space this month, according to the International Business Times.

One will fly about 4 million miles away from the Earth on Aug. 12, and it measures about 820 feet long, IBT says. Our planet also will be approached by asteroids — ranging in size from 269 feet long to 500 feet long — on Aug. 17, Aug. 26, Aug. 27 and Aug. 28. None is considered a threat to us.

Some good news: An asteroid that was originally given a 1-in-7,000 chance of hitting the Earth in early September 2019 is no longer considered a threat.

“Astronomers ruled out the asteroid’s chance of impact with Earth after they were not able to spot it within the area of its predicted collision course,” noted Space.com.

A close call in July

Just last week, a small asteroid that was not being closely tracked flew as close as 45,000 miles away from our planet, leaving some astronomers stunned, the Washington Post reported.

“It snuck up on us pretty quickly,” one astronomy expert told the Post. “It’s probably the largest asteroid to pass this close to Earth in quite a number of years.”

Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality or like him on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.