Large asteroid buzzes Earth

A large asteroid buzzed the Earth today at about three times the distance to the moon, the closest any known asteroid will come to our planet until 2027. The asteroid, designated 2004 BL86, is about five football fields across and poses no threat to Earth.

Astronomers plan to get a look at 2004 BL86’s surface by bouncing radar off the asteroid as it passes by. The asteroid is even close enough to be seen through a backyard telescope as it swings through the constellation Cancer this evening.