#Giant asteroid to zip past Earth on Christmas Day

NASA is keeping an eye on a large asteroid that is set to zip past Earth on Christmas Day.

The space rock 501647 (2014 SD224) is on the US space agency’s “Close Approach” list and could be up to 689 feet wide.

That’s as long as two football pitches.

It’s predicted to come within 1.9 million miles of Earth.

This may seem like it’s no risk at all but in terms of space that is pretty close.

Any fast moving space object that comes within around 4.65 million miles is considered to be “potentially hazardous” by cautious space organizations.

The space rock is expected to shoot past our planet on December 25.

It should be at its closest at around 3:20 pm ET.

According to NASA’s Close Approach table, a much smaller asteroid called 2020 XY will also fly past much earlier in the day.

This asteroid could be up to 144-feet wide but should be much further away.

It’s predicted to shoot past at 3.6 million miles from Earth.

The bigger and closer approaching Asteroid 501647 (2014 SD224) is traveling at a speed of around 22,000 mph.

NASA has labelled both asteroids as Near Earth Objects (NEOs).