An asteroid is predicted to come super close to Earth on a very important day of this year. An Apollo class near-Earth asteroid named 2018 VP1 is expected to fly past our planet on Nov 2, 2020, one day before US Presidential Elections.

According to The Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, there are "three potential impacts" but "based on 21 observations spanning 12.968 days" it is believed that there will be no direct impact.

2018VP1 is a very small asteroid that is measured to roughly two meters and as comparable to a school bus. It was discovered on Nov. 3, 2018, and it is not a potentially hazardous object. It orbits the sun every 731 days and comes as close as 0.91 AU. At its closest approach, it is estimated to come within 4,994.76 kilometres of Earth which is very close in space terminology.

While NASA confirms there is no threat from the asteroid, it says there is only 0.41% chance of it entering Earth's atmosphere.

Asteroid 2018VP1 is very small, approx. 6.5 feet, and poses no threat to Earth! It currently has a 0.41% chance of entering our planet’s atmosphere, but if it did, it would disintegrate due to its extremely small size.

— NASA Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) August 23, 2020

"Asteroid 2018VP1 is very small, approx. 6.5 feet, and poses no threat to Earth! It currently has a 0.41% chance of entering our planet's atmosphere, but if it did, it would disintegrate due to its extremely small size," NASA Asteroid Watch tweeted.

Last week, an SUV-size asteroid set a record for coming closest to any other Near-Earth Asteroid. As per JPL NASA, it passed at 1,830 miles above the southern Indian Ocean on Sunday, Aug. 16 at 12:08 a.m. EDT. Estimated to be three to six meters, it was a small asteroid that was known as 2020 QG.

As mentioned, if the asteroid was on an impact trajectory, "it would likely have become a fireball as it broke up in Earth's atmosphere, which happens several times a year."

Asteroid whizzed past Earth
Whale-sized asteroid whizzed past Earth, noticed one day later Nasa

"It's really cool to see a small asteroid come by this close because we can see the Earth's gravity dramatically bend its trajectory," said Paul Chodas, director of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "Our calculations show that this asteroid got turned by 45 degrees or so as it swung by our planet."

The asteroid has now entered the record books for being the "closest known non impacting asteroid."