A huge asteroid measuring half a kilometer across will zip by our planet at the end of this month and will be the Earth's closest encounter with a colossal space rock of that size until 2027.

On January 26, asteroid 2004 BL86 will be in close proximity with Earth, flying at a distance of 1.2 million kilometers, which is about three times the distance of the Earth to the Moon.

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NASA scientists say this will be the closest approach of any asteroid to Earth in the next 200 years. Although asteroid 2004 BL86 measures a whopping 549 diameters across, there's no imminent danger as it will not hit the Earth as it zooms close by.

The next large asteroid similar to that size that will zip by our planet is asteroid 1999 AN10 that will make its closest approach in 2027, says NASA.

Asteroid 2004 BL86 won't be a threat in the near future but can offer a once in a lifetime opportunity to observe it, said Don Yeomans from NASA's Near Earth Object Program Office, Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

As it passes by our neighborhood next week, astronomers will monitor asteroid 2004 BL86 using radars of the massive antennas of the NASA's Deep Space Network located in Goldstone, California along with the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.

These radio dishes will beam out microwave signals towards the asteroid. Radar echoes from the asteroid will appear like a sonogram that reveals important information about the asteroid's shape. It will also help determine the asteroid's measurements and terrain, including its mass, density and how fast it rotates.

Asteroid 2004 BL86 was first detected on January 30, 2004 by the one meter LINEAR telescope in New Mexico.  Scientists will now gain new insights and data on how the solar system was formed since asteroids are remnants of protoplanetary collisions and also on how asteroids can be a new source of minerals and energy.

TagsMassive Asteroid Will Make Its Closest Approach to Earth Next Week, asteroids, Earth, asteroid 2004 BL86, huge asteroid will pass by earth close narrowly zoom, NASA