Earth To Have A Close Encounter With Small Asteroid Today

Back in 2012, a small asteroid was discovered that scientists knew would one day come close to earth's orbit. Today is that day and the asteroid dubbed "2012 TC4" is within range of our planet. Luckily there is no chance of any sort of impact.

The asteroid is estimated to be between 45 to 100 feet long, which may not seem that big but consider it's traveling through space at 16,000 MPH (4.5 miles a second)... that could do some damage. NASA has set up an illustration on their website to simplify the scenario.

Although at it's closest range the asteroid will be 27,000 miles away from our planet as it passes over Antarctica around 1 P.M., that's still considerably close based on the fact the farthest satellites only go out to about 21,000 miles.

Luckily today won't end in catastrophe and we don't need to grab Bruce Willis or Morgan Freeman to get us through this. My only hope is those clouds clear up and maybe I can catch a glimpse as it flies past us.

A short movie taken by NASA yesterday of the asteroid's movement through space: