Huge asteroid to fly by Earth Thursday

Slooh Space Camera

A look at where near-Earth asteroid 2012 LZ1 will appear in the sky on the evening of June 14, 2012.

By Mike Wall

An asteroid the size of a city block is set to fly by Earth Thursday, and you may be able to watch it happen live.

The near-Earth asteroid 2012 LZ1, which astronomers think is about 1,650 feet wide, will come within 14 lunar distances of Earth Thursday evening. While there's no danger of an impact on this pass, the huge space rock may come close enough to be caught on camera.

That's what the team running the Slooh Space Camera thinks, anyway. The online skywatching service will train a telescope on the Canary Islands on 2012 LZ1 and stream the footage live, beginning at 8:00 p.m. EDT Thursday (0000 GMT Friday).
You can watch the asteroid flyby on Slooh's website, found here: http://events.slooh.com/  More >>