--- description: Amateur astronomers have the chance to spot a huge asteroid flying past the earth over the next few days - all from their own backyard. title: How to See The Biggest Asteroid to Pass Earth Since Records Began image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt14b5731b42eeedaf/6988dbf7e76ad231fb62ef98/170831_sky-telescope-asteroid-florence.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How to See The Biggest Asteroid to Pass Earth Since Records Began by [Rachel Lewis](/author/rachel-lewis/) ## Rachel Lewis Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 31, 2017 3:16 PM CUT  Courtesy of Sky & Telescope by [Rachel Lewis](/author/rachel-lewis/) ## Rachel Lewis Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 31, 2017 3:16 PM CUT Amateur astronomers have the chance to spot a huge asteroid flying past Earth over the next few days — all from their own backyards. Asteroid Florence is quite big as far as asteroids go: at 2.7 miles across, it’s the biggest to pass earth since [NASA](http://time.com/4894102/voyager-anniversary-photos/ "undefined") started keeping records, according to the space agency. “While many known asteroids have passed by closer to Earth than Florence will on September 1, all of those were estimated to be smaller,” Paul Chodas, manager of [NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies,](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/large-asteroid-to-safely-pass-earth-on-sept-1 "undefined") said in a statement. It will cruise by at a safe distance of 4.4 million miles or about 18 times the distance between the earth and the moon, NASA said. This is the closest that Florence has been since 1890 on its travels through the solar system, according to the agency, and will not come this close again until after the year 2500. The asteroid, which can be seen using a small telescope, will appear as bright as a 9th-magnitude star because its large surface means that it reflects almost twice as much light from the sun as the moon, according to [Sky & Telescope](http://www.skyandtelescope.com/press-releases/view-close-flyby-of-asteroid-florence/ "undefined"). The best moment to see the asteroid from the U.S. will be 8 p.m. EDT on Saturday, according to S&T, as this is when the asteroid will pass much dimmer stars. S&T has made [four detailed charts](http://www.skyandtelescope.com/press-releases/view-close-flyby-of-asteroid-florence/ "undefined") that show how the asteroid will be moving south to north through the Capricornus, Aquarius, Delphinus, Vulpecula, and Cygnus constellations. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4923079/asteroid-florence-earth-watch-how/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4923079/asteroid-florence-earth-watch-how/"},"headline":"How to See The Biggest Asteroid to Pass Earth Since Records Began","datePublished":"2017-08-31T15:16:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:14:28.836Z","description":"Florence is nearly 3 miles across","url":"https://time.com/4923079/asteroid-florence-earth-watch-how/","keywords":["NASA","asteroid","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt14b5731b42eeedaf/6988dbf7e76ad231fb62ef98/170831_sky-telescope-asteroid-florence.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rachel Lewis","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rachel-lewis/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt14b5731b42eeedaf/6988dbf7e76ad231fb62ef98/170831_sky-telescope-asteroid-florence.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"170831_Sky and Telescope-Asteroid Florence","caption":"","creditText":"Courtesy of Sky & Telescope","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4923079/asteroid-florence-earth-watch-how/","name":"How to See The Biggest Asteroid to Pass Earth Since Records Began"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch the Whole Total Solar Eclipse in 4 Minutes","description":"Millions of Americans turned their eyes skyward as a rare total solar eclipse sailed across the country from coast to coast for the first time, turning day into night in more than a dozen states. 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