A big asteroid is set to make its closest flyby of Earth in 200 years on Tuesday, but there is no chance of a crash landing when it zips by our planet, NASA said.
Astronomers have aimed their telescopes to catch a glimpse of the 2005 YU55 asteroid, which will not be visible to the naked eye, when it makes its closest approach to Earth at 6:28 pm (2328 GMT).
The 1,300 feet (400 meter) wide asteroid often travels in the vicinity of the Earth, Mars and Venus, but "the 2011 encounter with Earth is the closest it has come for at least the last 200 years," the US space agency said.
Other asteroids of this size pass by Earth more frequently, though the last such event happened in 1976 and the next will not happen again until 2028 when as asteroid called 2001 WN5 will skim about halfway between the Moon and Earth.
Massive asteroid closes in on Earth fly-by
