An asteroid hurtling towards the Earth will be 10 times as close to our planet as is the Moon.

The asteroid is named 2014 RC. It's about 60 feet or 20 meters in size, making it almost as big as a whale.

It's as big as the meteorite that exploded over the Ural Mountains in Russia in February 2013.

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It's been nicknamed "The Pitbull" due to its small size and threatening trajectory.

While scientists say that it won't crash into our planet, Pitbull will approach very, very close to us. At its closest, Pitbull will be 25,000 miles or 40,000 kilometers away from the Earth. This is one-tenth the distance from the center of the Earth to the Moon.

When Pitbull is at its closest point to the Earth, it will be above New Zealand. Astronomy aficionados with telescopes will be able to catch a quick glimpse of it.

Astronomers say the asteroid will pass beneath satellites orbiting about 22,000 miles or 36,000 kilometers above the planet's surface.

Astronomers say Pitbull will be back in the future.

The news comes right after English physicist Brian Cox said the Earth has no defense systems for any incoming asteroid as of yet. Former astronaut Ed Lu added that it's only "blind luck" that the Earth has not been hit by an asteroid.

On the other hand, NASA is monitoring the trajectories of thousands of asteroids to see if  any of them will impact on Earth.

One such asteroid set to impact Earth is asteroid 1950 DA. It's expected to slam into the Earth in the year 2880.

Scientists said that if the asteroid crashes into the Atlantic Ocean, the blast could be likened to a 60,000 megaton explosion.

The best course of action to deflect this asteroid is to gently push the asteroid out of the way.

TagsPitbull, asteroid, 2014 RC