A skyscraper-sized asteroid is set to shoot past the Earth at a 3,480,000-mile distance on January 11. The asteroid, named Asteroid 2013 YD48 by Nasa, is bigger than big ben. Nasa has categorised the asteroid as a “potentially hazardous object” due to its size and relative proximity to the Earth while shooting past.

While it will miss Earth by a long distance, Nasa categorises any asteroid or comet as a Near-Earth Object (NEO) if it comes closer than 1.3au astronomical units, little over the distance between the Earth and the Sun. One au is the equivalent of 93 million miles. Such a large asteroid could a devastating if it crashes into Earth, but 2013 YD48 won’t be close enough to cause any worry.

The most recent asteroid to hit the planet was eight years ago in Russia which exploded in the atmosphere.