Asteroid 2002 AJ129, an intermediate-sized near-Earth asteroid will pass by Earth on Sunday, February 4, 2018.

The asteroid will make its closest approach to the Earth at a distance which is greater than 10 times the distance between Earth and the Moon. It is predicted to pass by at around 1:30 p.m. PST (4:30 p.m. EST/ 21:30 UTC).

The asteroid is believed to have a size between 0.3 miles or 0.5 kilometers and 0.75 miles or 1.2 kilometers.

However, Astronomers do not have any fears about the flyby. Paul Chodas, the manager of NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, said, "We have been tracking this asteroid for over 14 years and know its orbit very accurately. Our calculations indicate that asteroid 2002 AJ129 has no chance-zero-of colliding with Earth on Feb.4 or anytime over the next 100 years."

The asteroid will have a velocity of 76,000 mph (34 kilometers per second) at its closest distance. This is higher than the majority of the near-Earth object during their flyby across Earth. The flyby velocity is higher due to the asteroid's orbit which approaches the sun at a distance of 11 million miles or 18 million kilometers.

It was discovered by NASA-sponsored Near Earth Asteroid Tracking project at the Maui Space Surveillance Site on Haleakala, Hawaii on January 15, 2002.

Even though asteroid 2002 AJ129 is categorized as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA), it will not form any collision with Earth any soon. JPL's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies makes observations on the asteroids, comets or any other bodies which pass by Earth for the NASA's Near-Earth Object Observation Program.

NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office studies the near earth bodies to avoid any potential hazards or collisions with Earth. They also aim to work to tackle such situations warn people and lead any disaster management missions.

Space organizations are also keenly watching NEOs during their close encounters with Earth. One such observation has led to the identification of 'Oumuamua', the first interstellar object to pass through the Solar System near Earth. </s> A fast-moving asteroid will make a close flyby of Earth this Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 4), but it poses no risk of hitting our planet, according to NASA.

The asteroid, called 2002 AJ129, will make its closest approach to Earth at 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT), and will be about 2.6 million miles (4.2 million kilometers) from our planet at its closest point, NASA officials said. It's traveling at a breathtaking speed of about 76,000 mph (122,310 km/h), faster than most near-Earth asteroids, they added.

But while asteroid 2002 AJ129 is classified as "potentially hazardous" by NASA, at no point now or during the next century does it pose an impact threat to Earth, NASA officials said. Asteroids are classified potentially hazardous if they are larger than 460 feet (140 meters) in diameter and are in orbits that approach within 4.65 million miles (7.48 million km) of Earth. [In Images: Potentially Dangerous Asteroids Tracked by NASA]

"We have been tracking this asteroid for over 14 years and know its orbit very accurately," Paul Chodas, manager of NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, said in the statement. "Our calculations indicate that asteroid 2002 AJ129 has no chance — zero — of colliding with Earth on Feb. 4 or any time over the next 100 years."

Asteroid 2002 AJ129 will make its closest approach to Earth on Feb. 4, 2018, at 4:30 p.m. EST (2130 GMT). At closest approach, the asteroid will be no closer than 10 times the distance between Earth and the moon. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

The space rock will be no closer than about 10 times the distance between the Earth and moon. (The average distance between the Earth and moon is about 238,855 miles, or about 384,400 km.)

Asteroid 2002 AJ129 is a mid-size asteroid that is somewhere between 0.3 miles and 0.75 miles (0.5 to 1.2 kilometers) across. It was discovered on Jan. 15, 2002 by astronomers with a then-NASA-sponsored Near Earth Asteroid Tracking project at the Maui Space Surveillance Site on Haleakala, Hawaii.

The asteroid's unusually fast speed was likely caused by a its orbit, which brings 2002 AJ129 extremely close to the sun, whipping around the star at a range of 11 million miles (18 million km), NASA officials said.

You can see live views of asteroid 2002 AJ129 today here at the Virtual Telescope Project website here at 6 p.m. EST (2300 GMT).

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. </s> The asteroid will miss Earth by 3.7 lunar distances (LD) - the distance between the planet and the Moon. This means asteroid BP6 will come within 883,766 miles of Earth - a relatively small distance in space terms. BP6 has not been deemed a “potentially hazardous asteroid” (PHA) but still measures a fearsome 141 feet in diameter. Asteroid BP6 also has a velocity of 8.5 miles per second - or 30,600 miles per hour.

It is just the latest asteroid to cause alarm among sky-watchers. Yesterday Asteroid 2002 AJ129 sped by Earth just hours before this weekend’s Super Bowl. Asteroid 2002 AJ129 was classed as a PHA by both NASA and the International Astronomers’ Union, a body of PhD-educated astronomers. In a statement, NASA spokesman Paul Chodas said: “We have been tracking this asteroid for over 14 years and know its orbit very accurately. “Our calculations indicate that asteroid 2002 AJ129 has no chance — zero — of colliding with Earth on Feb. 4 or any time over the next 100 years."

At its closest approach, 2002 AJ129 came within 10 times the distance between Earth and the Moon - 2.6 million miles. And last week stargazers saw a spectacular ball of fire blazing across the skies above the Andalusia and Castilla-La Mancha regions of Spain when a asteroid entered the atmosphere. Experts from the La Hita astronomical complex and observatory in Toledo said they had detected the fireball and said it was caused by an asteroid bursting into the earth’s atmosphere at a staggering 111,000mph.

Analysis carried out by Professor José María Madiedo of the University of Huelva, the scientist behind the SMART project, said: “The fireball was produced as a result of the abrupt entry into the earth's atmosphere of a rock coming from an asteroid.” The Astronomical Complex has detailed that the speed of the rock was around 111,000 mph, which led to it becoming incandescent and generating the "spectacular light phenomenon”. </s> The asteroid, dubbed by NASA Asteroid 2018 YQ2, is expected to approach our home planet just after midnight. NASA’s asteroid experts at the California-based Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) predict YQ2 will flyby at 12.07am GMT (UTC) on Tuesday, January 8. During this flyby, the imposing asteroid will reach its closest possible distance to the planet – a so-called “Earth Close Approach”. The asteroid is not expected to hit the Earth anytime soon but tonight’s flyby will be the first of two incredibly close encounters this year.

NASA expects Asteroid YQ2 to visit the Earth again in eight months on the evening of August 26, 2019. And the asteroid’s impressive measurements are a good enough reason for NASA’s asteroid trackers to pay close attention to the space rock. NASA’s JPL scientists estimate YQ2 measures in the range of 52.5ft to 118.1ft (16m to 36m) in diameter. Any asteroid in this size range could pack enough force to cause injury and destruction upon atmospheric entry. READ MORE: Rogue asteroids could WIPE OUT life on Earth, warns Stephen Hawking

The 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor, which is estimated to have measured around 65.6ft (20m), injured more than 1,000 people in Russia when it exploded over Chelyabinsk. At the upper end of YQ2’s estimate, the space rock is about more than twice as tall as the Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles, is six-times as tall as an average giraffe and is nine-times longer than a Volkswagen Beatle. Thankfully, even at its closest, Asteroid YQ2 will miss the Earth completely by nearly two million miles. NASA believes the space rock will reach 0.01919 astronomical units (au) from the Earth – enough to dub it a “Near-Earth Object” (NEO) but not close enough to sound the alarm bells. READ MORE: Black hole in the middle of Milky Way could grow TENFOLD

One astronomical unit is the distance from Earth to the Sun and equals about 93 million miles (149.6 million km). Asteroid YQ2 will considerably cut this distance down tonight to just 1.78 million miles (2.87 million km).

This is roughly the equivalent of 7.47 Lunar Distances (LD) or 7.47-times the distance from Earth to the Moon. And the space rock will dash through space at breakneck speeds of more than 12,000mph or 5.68km per second. As they barrel through the solar system, NEOs like Asteroid YQ2 sometimes come close enough to our home world to spark interest from NASA. READ MORE: Was Einstein WRONG? Scientists probe supermassive BLACK HOLE to disprove theory of gravity </s> Asteroid VR12 is nearing our planet with every passing second as the terrifying combination of space rock, ice and metal speeds through the cosmos. With a diameter of 287 metres the asteroid is a sight to behold – almost as wide as London’s imposing Shard skyscraper is tall. VR12 has now been named one of 1,882 asteroids that are described as 'potentially hazardous’ as it makes its approach to the planet. Hitting terrifying speeds of 6.3 kilometres per second, or 22,680 kmh, astronomers expect the astroid from the depths of space to skim past the planet tomorrow, March 7 around 7.53am TDB.

Thankfully there appears to be absolutely no cause for concern because the speeding asteroid will just about miss the planet. At its minimum distance, NASA expects the asteroid to approach Earth within 0.09 AU, or 1,346,380 km. Asteroid VR12’s path will take it within 3.8 Lunar Distances of the Planet, where one LD is the average distance between Earth and the Moon. But the VR12 is still listed on the American space agency’s list of Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs).

NASA’s astronomers categories PHAs as space rocks bigger than 100 metres in diameter, which run the risk of coming closer to Earth than 0.05 AU, or 7,479,894 km. The space agency explained: “Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) are currently defined based on parameters that measure the asteroid's potential to make threatening close approaches to the Earth. “Specifically, all asteroids with an Earth Minimum Orbit Intersection Distance (MOID) of 0.05 au or less and an absolute magnitude (H) of 22.0 or less are considered PHAs. “In other words, asteroids that can't get any closer to the Earth (i.e., MOID) than 0.05 au (roughly 7,480,000 km or 4,650,000 mi) or are smaller than about 140 m (~500 ft) in diameter (i.e., H = 22.0 with assumed albedo of 14%) are not considered PHAs.”

Based on its orbital movement, NASA has been able to track its movement through time. VR12 last fellow past Earth on June 17 2010 and will next visit the planet on march 19 in the year 2026. But as horrendous as the prospect of VR12 may be, the reality is that hundreds of smaller asteroids pelt the planet on a daily basis, and burn up in the atmosphere before reaching the ground. NASA said: “Every day, Earth is bombarded with more than 100 tons of dust and sand-sized particles.
As predicted, a ~600 meter asteroid named (276033) 2002 AJ129 makes a close approach to Earth of 0.028 Astronomical units (4.2 million km, 2.6 million mi).