Berlin - An asteriod will safely sweep past Earth on Sunday, although Nasa says that at its closet approach the house-sized rock will be just one-tenth of the distance from the centre of the Earth to the moon.
Experts calculate the 20-meter asteroid, known as 2014 RC, will be nearest to Earth when it passes about 40 000 kilometres above New Zealand at 1818 GMT.
2014 RC was discovered on August 31 by the Catalina Sky Survey near Tucson, Arizona.
It poses no threat to communication and weather sattelites orbiting Earth, Nasa's Jet Propulsion Labratory said in a statement.
While it won't be visible to the naked eye, amateur observers might be able to spot it using a telescope. - Sapa-dpa