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Massive asteroid to collide with Earth in 2040?

Scientists are keeping a close eye on a new asteroid they fear could collide with earth in 2040.

The 140-m wide object, named 2011 AG5, has already put officials of the United Nations Action Team on near-Earth objects on alert and the agency has begun discussing ways to divert it.

According to NASA’s calculations, the object has a one in 625 chance of colliding with Earth and could potentially impact on February 5, 2040.

The object was discovered in January 2011 by Mount Lemmon Survey observers in Arizona and its mass and makeup are unknown as of now.

According to Discovery News, scientists will be able to observe the asteroid from 2013 through 2016 and assess its course and composition.

In 2023 the rock will make a "keyhole pass" of Earth, an area it passes through on the orbit before it would hit Earth.

An out-of-this-world view. Photo: Getty Images
An out-of-this-world view. Photo: Getty Images

According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab, this will be within a mere 0.02 astronomical units of our planet, or 2.9 million kilometers.

"2011 AG5 is the object which currently has the highest chance of impacting the Earth ... in 2040. However, we have only observed it for about half an orbit, thus the confidence in these calculations is still not very high," Detlef Koschny of the European Space Agency's Solar System Missions Division in Netherlands told CBS news.

According to NASA, top ways of deflecting the asteroid are putting a probe onto the rock and using the extra gravity to steer the asteroid away over millions of light years.

Another option would be sending a probe to impact it out of the way.

Amazing space photos. Photo: Getty Images
Amazing space photos. Photo: Getty Images

The Daily Mail reports nuclear weapons have also been discussed, but this would create a shower of rocks instead of just one.

Asteroids shaving by earth are not a new phenomenon but this could be the planet’s closest call in many years.

As recently as January 28, a small asteroid the size of a city bus zoomed between Earth and the moon's orbit just days after its discovery.

The 11-metre wide space rock named 2012 BX34 passed within 59,044 kilometers of Earth when it made its closest approach.

In September, NASA announced that it has spotted about 90 percent of the largest asteroids (the size of a mountain or bigger) that can come near Earth. About 911 such giant space rocks have been confirmed.


Space station sends back stunning Earth photos. Photo: Getty Images
Space station sends back stunning Earth photos. Photo: Getty Images