Courtesy NBC News / NASA / JPL-Caltech(KCEN) -- Another heavenly body making the news. An asteroid will have a pretty close encounter with the earth today as it passes by.
The asteroid, designated as 2012 DA14 will pass within a little over 17,000 miles of earth's surface.
That's closer than the communication satellites that will be broadcasting the news of its arrival.
Its closest approach will be about 2:30 this afternoon on the East Coast.
The meteor is approximately half the size of a football field.
It will also be difficult to see.
Dr. Andrew Jacob with the Sydney Observatory said, "It's not so easy to see this one. It won't be visible to the naked eye. Even at its closest it's too small to be visible to the naked eye. It could be seen with a good pair of binoculars and you would have to know exactly where to look and how to find this thing."
But don't panic just yet, experts say it is not a threat to hit earth this week or anytime in the near future.
