Asteroid the size of Mount Everest set to fly by Earth next month that is 'large enough to cause global effects' in the unlikely event it collides with our planet

An asteroid half the size of Mount Everest is heading towards Earth next month, but scientists say it is not expected to collide with us.

The object, called 52768 (1998 OR2), is 1 to 2.5 miles wide and will pass within 3,908,791 miles, moving at 19,461 miles per hour, according to the Daily Mail.

The asteroid was first discovered by NASA in 1998, and is said to be ″large enough to cause global effects″ if it were to hit Earth.

The flyby is expected for Wednesday, April 29 at 4:56 AM ET, according to NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies that tracks Near-Earth Objects (NEAT) that could collide with Earth.

The discovery of 52768 came on the heels of NASA installing 'new state-of-the-art computing and data analysis hardware that speeds our search for near-Earth objects,' said NEAT Project Manager Dr. Steven Pravdo of JPL, in a statement.

The asteroid orbits the sun every 1,340 days, or 3.67 years and completes a rotation on its axis every 4.11 days, CNN first reported.

A different asteroid has made headlines this month when it was found to be orbiting Earth for the past three years.

NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey discovered a temporarily captured asteroid, called 2020 CD3, which has been orbiting our planet for three years.

The tiny cosmic object is estimated to about six to 12 feet in diameter and has a surface brightness similar to C-type asteroids, which are carbon rich and very common.

This rare sighting is 'big news' due to the fact that there are more than a million known asteroids, but this is only the second one to orbit Earth.

The organization is based at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Lab in Tucson, Arizona and is focused on tracking and discovering near-Earth objects.

Their latest find, 2020 CD3, was seen in the night sky of February 15th by astronomers Kacper Wierzchos and Teddy Pruyne. 

The mini-moon was then spotted four times by February 17th, which was enough evidence for experts to confirm it is orbiting our planet.