An asteroid bigger than the Empire State Building is heading towards Earth and is expected to blast past at 27,000mph on Boxing Day.

Brits can continue to enjoy their Christmas festivities as the space rock called 2000 CH59 is expected to miss by 4,530,666 miles – but this is still close in astronomical terms.

The space rock is estimated to be 2,034ft long which is bigger than the Empire State Building (1,453ft) or Willis Tower (1,450ft).

NASA has said the asteroid will pass the Earth at 7.54am without there being any possibility of impact.

• 

  Star Wars-style lasers may be needed to prevent 'space junk Armageddon'

• 

  Alien hunters say mystery of disappearing stars may point to ultra-advanced ETs

While over 4.5million miles away, about 1/20th of the distance to the Sun, NASA still call it a “near-Earth object” that is making a “close approach”.

Asteroids fly past the Earth regularly and only a few can be seen when they get sucked into the planet’s gravitational pull.

Read More

Today's Top Stories

This latest asteroid was named after it was first discovered in the year 2000 and it is thought to measure up to 2,034ft.

Asteroids are rocks that orbit the Sun and most are found in a belt between Mars and Jupiter.

• 

  NASA left red-faced after Boeing's Starliner suffers mission-ending 'anomaly'

On November 1, another asteroid, called All Saints, passed Earth completely harmlessly.

NASA technology tracks the movements of the rocks as they travel through the solar system.

Astronomers have listed asteroids that have a risk of hitting Earth with most carrying just a very small possibility.

The most likely is called 290751950DA which is expected to pass in the year 2185. It has a 1 in 694 possibility of hitting Earth.

Source: Read Full Article