'A close encounter of the air craft carrier size.'
An asteroid is heading our way, though luckily not straight at us.
The lump of rock in question is 13,000 feet across and made of dense carbon, so it's certainly got astronomers very excited.
"This is the closest approach by an asteroid that large that we've ever known about in advance," said Nasa scientist Lans Bena, "in effect it will be moving straight at us from one direction, and then it'll go whizzing by and straight away from us in the other direction. So. Its motion across the sky will be close to 180 degrees over the course of less than two days."
Although it will miss us by more than 200,000 thousand miles, it will pass between the earth and the moon. It may not be enough to send out Bruce Willis and his Armageddon team, but still, close enough; the closest such encounter in at least 200 years. A rare chance to view such an object from the ground, with radar telescopes in the US preparing for its flyby on Tuesday night
If it were to hit the Earth, it could wipe out London or New York, or if it landed in the sea, cause a 70 foot high tsunami.
If it were to hit the Earth, it could wipe out London or New York, or if it landed in the sea, cause a 70 foot high tsunami.
