London, Oct 31 (ANI): An asteroid 400 meters across, could yield clues about how Earth was formed, when it shoots past our planet next week, missing us by a safe margin of 200,000 miles.
The giant lump of space rock, which is about the size of an aircraft carrier, will pass between Earth and the Moon on Tuesday, November 8.
The asteroid, which is known as 2005 YU55 and is orbit around the Sun, has not been this close to Earth in 200 years and will come closer to Earth than any of its size in the past 35 years.
It will not be visible to the naked eye but amateur astronomers stand a good chance of catching a glimpse of it provided they have a telescope at least 6in in diameter.
Nasa scientists, who have officially classified the asteroid as a "near-earth object", will use a radar telescope to analyse exactly what it is made of and get a better idea where it came from.
"We hope to obtain images that should reveal a wealth of detail about the asteroid's surface features, shape, dimensions and other physical properties," the Telegraph quoted a spokesman for the space agency as saying.
Dr Emily Baldwin, deputy editor of Astronomy Now magazine, said 2005 YU55 posed no threat.
"It is a great opportunity to make close-up, detailed observations. Studies of asteroids are important not only to learn about the potential threat an impact may have on Earth but also to understand the history of our solar system," she told the Sunday Times.
Analysing what the rock is made of could help scientists understand how our planet was formed, she added. (ANI)
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