He told AFP that although it was “very close”, there was nothing to worry about.
Smaller asteroids fly by every day, but one of this size comes this close to Earth only about once every 10 years, he said.
The asteroid will pass 175,000 kilometers (109,000 mi) from Earth at a speed of 28,000 kilometers per hour (17,400 mph). The Moon is approximately 385,000 kilometers away.
An observatory in La Palma, one of Spain’s Canary Islands, first spotted the asteroid on February 27.