Giant 'Potentially Hazardous' Asteroid Hurtling Toward Earth
(CBS SF) -- An asteroid over half a mile wide is set to soar past Earth on Friday, but astronomers say earthlings have nothing to worry about.
The asteroid, designated as 2014 YB35, will not be getting closer than 4.5 million km (2.8 million miles) -- about 11.7 times the distance of the moon.
But it's big enough for the Minor Planet Center to classify it as a "potentially hazardous asteroid" since it would cause collateral damage if it did come crashing into our planet. An asteroid this size could release energy equivalent to a thousand of the largest nuclear bombs, causing devastating damage hundreds of miles around. Depending on where it landed, it'd bring on massive earthquakes, tsunamis, firestorms and other natural disasters thought to have wiped out dinosaurs about 65 million years ago.
In January, an asteroid designated as 2004 BL86, was one of the largest to pass close to the Earth in many years.
Closing in at 745,000 miles away during its closest approach, or 3.1 times the distance of the moon, 2004 BL86 glided past Earth without drama. Instead, it provided a great chance for Scientists at NASA's Deep Space Network antenna in Goldstone, Calif., and at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico to learn more asteroids using radar-generated images.
This won't be the last time we see 2014 YB35. It'll make a another return in 2023, but this time at only nine moon distances away.