The world is ending: Meteorite on track to hit earth next week

Ok… not really, but it will stream by the earth at the relatively close distance of 538,000 km, or about 1.4 times the distance between the Moon and our beloved planet.

So did we get your attention?

According to NASA researcher Don Yeomans, the object, known as 2007 TU24, has a length of approximately 152 meters and will approach Earth next Monday. The star gazers among you should be pleased to know the meteorite will be observable via medium-strength telescopes.

Fortunately for us, Yeomas said the object has absolutely no chance of hitting our precious, pale blue dot.

Statistics show that a collision between a meteorite this large and earth occurs each 37,000 years. Anyone know when we’re due for the next big impact?

Near-Earth Asteroid 2007 TU24 to Pass Close to Earth on January 29