Asteroid hurtles towards Earth tonight

GlobalPost

A humongous asteroid is hurtling towards Earth as we speak, but don't worry, there is no need to call Bruce Willis just yet. 

The asteroid, estimated to be the size of a city block, will buzz past earth just 3.5 million miles away, making it close enough to be caught on camera. 

The Slooh Space Camera, an online skywatching service, will position a telescope on the Canary Islands on the near-Earth asteroid dubed 2012 LZ1, and stream the footage live, beginning at 8:00 p.m. EDT Thursday, according to Space.com.

The asteroid was only discovered last week by Rob McNaught and his colleagues at the Siding Spring Observatory in Australia.

In May, NASA estimated that there are around 4,700 asteroids, including 2012 LZ1, that are close enough, and big enough, to pose a risk to Earth. 

More from GlobalPost: NASA finds 4,700 potentially dangerous asteroids

According to CNN, hazardous asteroids larger than 330 feet across and come within 5 million miles of Earth. These asteroids would also be large enough to survive passing through Earth's atmosphere.

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