An asteroid stretches a quarter-mile across will dart between the Earth and Moon on Tuesday - the closest encounter by such a huge rock in 35 year.





2005 YU55, is being watched by ground antennas as it approaches from the direction of the Sun. The last time it came within so-called shouting distance was 200 years ago.



The asteroid, named, is being watched by ground antennas as it approaches from the direction of the Sun. The last time it came within so-called shouting distance was 200 years ago.





Closest approach will occur at 6.28pm EST (11.28pm GMT) on Tuesday when the asteroid passes within 202,000 miles of Earth. That is closer than the roughly 240,000 miles between the Earth and the Moon.





The Moon will be just under 150,000 miles from the asteroid at the time of closest approach.





Both the Earth and Moon are safe - "this time", said Jay Melosh, professor of Earth and atmospheric sciences at Purdue University.





If 2005 YU55 was to plough into the home planet, it would blast out a crater four miles across and 1,700 feet deep, according to Prof Melosh's calculations. Think a magnitude-7 earthquake and 70ft-high tsunami waves.

In down below video with a program created by Purdue Universaty, we will demonstrate what would happen if Asteroid 2005 YU55 hit the earth.(Double click on screen to view full screen)