Newly-found asteroid the size of a bus is set to have a 'near miss' with Earth TODAY as it flies between our planet and the moon at 21,000mph

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A newly-found bus-sized asteroid is due to come 'close' to Earth today - at speeds of more than 21,000mph (34,000km/h).

Named 2017 YZ4, the asteroid was only spotted on Christmas Day and will pass between the Earth and moon at a distance of just 139,433 miles (224,000 km) - close enough to be considered a 'near miss' by astronomers.

Asteroid - Feet - Diameter - Metres - Earth

The potentially hazardous asteroid, which is 22.6 to 49 feet in diameter (seven to 15 metres) is due to skim past Earth at 4.56pm GMT (11.56 ET) this afternoon.

Nasa describes asteroids as 'hazardous' if they come within the 4,600,000 mile (7,403,00km) threshold of proximity to our planet.

Asteroid - Mount - Lemmon - Survey - Observatory

The asteroid was first spotted at Mount Lemmon Survey Observatory in Arizona and will be the 52nd to pass between Earth and the moon this year.

'This is the first known asteroid to flyby Earth within one lunar distance since two such asteroids flew past us 35 minutes apart on November 21, and the 52nd this year', a Nasa spokesperson told the Express.

December - Objects - NEOs - Planet

'As of December 24, there are 17,495 known Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) around our planet; 17,389 are asteroids.'

'This year, we discovered 1,985 new near Earth asteroids. There were 1888 such objects discovered in 2016 and 1,571 in 2015.'

Anything - Miles - Planet

Anything that flies closer than six million miles of our planet is a near...

(Excerpt) Read more at: Mail Online

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