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Asteroid could be visible tonight

January 26, 2015
This diagram shows the close passage of 2004 BL86 on January 26, 2015. The view is nearly edge-on to the Earth's orbit; the Moon's nearly circular orbit is highly foreshortened from this viewpoint. The asteroid moves from the south to the north, from below the Earth's orbit to above. The indicated times are Universal Time. Closest approach occurs at about 16:19 UTC, or about 11:19 EST. The roughly 500-meter (1500-foot) asteroid approaches to within 1.2 million kilometers (750,000 miles) of Earth, or about 3.1 times the distance of the Moon. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

This diagram shows the close passage of 2004 BL86 on January 26, 2015. The view is nearly edge-on to the Earth’s orbit; the Moon’s nearly circular orbit is highly foreshortened from this viewpoint. The asteroid moves from the south to the north, from below the Earth’s orbit to above. The indicated times are Universal Time. Closest approach occurs at about 16:19 UTC, or about 11:19 EST. The roughly 500-meter (1500-foot) asteroid approaches to within 1.2 million kilometers (750,000 miles) of Earth, or about 3.1 times the distance of the Moon.
(NASA/JPL-Caltech)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An asteroid up to 1,800 feet across is headed Earth’s way. But don’t worry: It will miss us by 745,000 miles, about three times the distance between Earth and the moon.

Still, that’s close for such a large rock.

NASA scientists say asteroid 2004 BL86 will come closest Monday. That will be the nearest the asteroid gets for another 200 years. And it will be the closest known encounter by such a giant space rock until another mega-asteroid flies by in 2027.

It was discovered in 2004 and is estimated to be about one-third of a mile in size, or between 1,600 and 1,800 feet.

Amateur astronomers across North America should be able to see it with telescopes and binoculars.

The best chance for viewing will be from 8 p.m. ET Monday to 1 a.m. ET Tuesday.