Massive asteroid hurtling towards Earth
Baku, May 9 (AZERTAC). A massive asteroid will fly within the moon`s orbit narrowly missing Earth later this year.
The space rock, called YU55, will hurtle past our planet at a distance of just 201,700 miles during its closest approach on November 8.
That is closer to Earth than the moon, which orbits 238,857miles away on average.
With a width of some 400metres and weighing 55million tons, YU55 will be the largest object to ever approach Earth so close.
Nasa spokesman Don Yeomans said: `On November 8, asteroid YU55 will fly past Earth and at its closest approach point will be about 325,000kms away.
`This asteroid is about 400 metres wide - the largest space rock we have identified that will come this close until 2028.`
Despite YU55`s close proximity to Earth, its gravitational pull on our planet will be `immeasurably miniscule`.
Mr Yeomans added: `During its closest approach, its gravitational effect on the Earth will be so miniscule as to be immeasurable. It will not affect the tides or anything else.`
It is, however, still officially labelled a `potentially hazardous object` - if it was to hit Earth, it would exert a force the equivalent of 65,000 atomic bombs and leave a crater six miles wide and 2,000ft deep.
YU55 was discovered by Robert McMillan, head of the Nasa-funded Spacewatch Program at the University of Arizona, Tucson in December 2005.
It orbits the sun once every 14 years but will not collide with Earth for at least a century.
`YU55 poses no threat of an Earth collision over, at the very least, the next 100 years,` Mr Yeomans said.
Scientists around the world have long been discussing ways of deflecting potentially hazardous asteroids to prevent them hitting Earth.
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