Huge asteroid to zoom past Earth today

HOUSTON, Texas -- An asteroid will go whizzing by Earth in what is considered a relatively close call in space terms.

The asteroid, known as 2014 JO25, will pass by Earth Wednesday. It will be the closest an object of this size has gotten to us in 13 years.

The hunk of rock, metal and other materials will pass by at a distance of about 1.1 million miles. To put your mind a little more at ease, that's more than two round-trip journeys to the moon. NASA reassures us there is absolutely no chance of a collision with Earth.

Radar images taken by NASA's Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex in California early Tuesday showed the asteroid is shaped like a peanut and rotates once every five hours. It was initially discovered three years ago by astronomers in Arizona.

The largest portion of the asteroid is about 2,000 feet across, or about the size of six football fields.

Smaller asteroids pass this close to Earth several times a week. In 2004, a three-mile-wide asteroid approached at about the same distance.

This will be the closest 2014 JO25 has gotten to Earth in the last 400 years, and it won't be near us again for another 500.

Scientists say this is an exciting opportunity to study the asteroid at such a close distance.

You will be able to see the asteroid through a telescope.

Report a typo to the ABC13 staff