An asteroid about the size of an aircraft carrier is about to fly past the Earth today making its closest approach. This large asteroid, known as 2005 YU55 will close to about 200,000 miles of the Earth. The piece of space rock poses little threat of hitting the Earth, so why all the hype? Asteroids and space rocks have flown much closer to the Earth quite frequently. The reason for the hype is that this is the largest one to come this close in over 30 years.
If this rock were to hit the Earth, NASA scientists have stated that the strike would cause an explosion that would equate to a 4000 megaton nuclear blast. That would be enough to wipe the slate clean on the face of the earth in about a 60 mile radius.
Despite the size and proximity of the space rock, backyard astronomers will need to use a decent optical telescope to see the rock. The asteroid will not be visible to the unaided eye.
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