Aircraft carrier-sized asteroid will just miss Earth tonight

AN ASTEROID the size of an aircraft carrier and darker than charcoal will cruise past the Earth at a distance closer than the Moon tonight.

Nasa astronomers insist there is no threat of an impact from asteroid 2005 YU55, which will pass no closer than 201,700 miles to Earth - or 0.85 of the distance to the Moon. Should their calculations prove wrong, however, it is heartening to know that the 400m-wide spherical asteroid is significantly smaller than the 10km object that wiped out the dinosaurs.  

Scientists say the asteroid's flight path through the solar system is well understood. It regularly visits Earth, Venus and Mars on its orbit around the sun, but tonight will be its closest pass to us in 200 years. The last time any asteroid came so close to Earth was in 1976, although scientists were unaware of the near-miss at the time.

Astronomers are using radar telescopes to study 2005 YU55's surface features, shape, dimensions and other physical properties in detail. Lance Benner of Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory told the BBC: "This is the closest approach by an asteroid that large that we've ever known about in advance.

"2005 YU55 cannot hit Earth, at least over the interval that we can compute the motion reliably - which extends fsor several hundred years."

So we are safe for now - at least until 13 April 2029, when the asteroid Apophis will pass even closer to Earth - at a distance of a mere 18,300 miles, or just 0.08 of the distance to the Moon. ·