Massive Asteroid , Set for Closest Approach , to Earth Since 1914.br On August 20, a humongous asteroid larger br than Giza's Great Pyramid will pass by br Earth for the first time in over 100 years.br On August 20, a humongous asteroid larger br than Giza's Great Pyramid will pass by br Earth for the first time in over 100 years.br 'Newsweek' reports that the asteroid, br named 2019 AV13, is forecast to pass Earth br at a speed of about 20,000 miles per hour.br It is expected to pass at a distance br of about 3.2 million miles.br The last time the asteroid passed br this close to Earth was in 1914.br The next time it will approach br this close to our planet br will be in the year 2113.br 'Newsweek' reports that most asteroids originate in the Asteroid Belt orbiting between Mars and Jupiter.br Asteroids in the belt range in size from a few feet to the enormous Ceres which is 600 miles in diameter.br As gravitational interaction pulls asteroids br toward the Sun, it occasionally sends br them on a course near the Earth.br The 100 year interval between events br is purely a statistical construct based br on the number of objects of a particular br size, their orbits and an arbitrary miss br distance, so 100 years is an average. , Jay Tate, director of the The Spaceguard br Center observatory, via 'Newsweek'.