Asteroid Florence: See Friday Flyby From Your Backyard

Asteroid Florence will fly by the Earth on Friday and the rare space object will be visible to those with backyard telescopes.

According to Space.com, asteroid Florence will zoom past Earth at a distance of about 4.4 million miles on Friday, making it the biggest space object to come this close to the Earth since 1890.

NASA officials said an asteroid is not expected to travel this close to the Earth again until 2500.

According to Sky & Telescope magazine, Florence viewing might have a little interference given the fact that the moon reached its first-quarter phase on Tuesday, raising its level of brightness.

"Despite some interference from moonlight, 3122 Florence should be fairly easy to spot in even modest backyard telescopes," said Kelly Beatty, a senior editor at Sky & Telescope magazine.

For those who can't wait to get a glimpse of Florence – much like those who ditched work last week to view the solar eclipse – the best time to view the asteroid is Thursday night when it will be at its brightest.

The magazine also notes that Saturday at 8 p.m. EDT is another perfect time to view the enormous asteroid.

• Onrushing Asteroid Drill Just a Test, Isn't It?
• Asteroid to Hit Earth If 2135 Near-Miss Tweaks Its Orbit?
• Frog-Dinosaur-Asteroid Theory: the Meek Inherited the Earth