NASA asteroid WARNING: When will asteroid make Earth approach? How close will it get?

They are said to be bigger than one metre (3 ft) in diameter.

Smaller objects that orbit the sun are called meteoroids.

The largest asteroid is Ceres, which measures up at 600 miles (965 km) across.

Dr Thomas Gernon, Associate Professor in Earth Science at Southampton University, said: “In the asteroid belt, fitting somewhere between Mars and Jupiter, space rocks sometimes collide.

“The break up of one or more asteroids will potentially generate lots of fragments, which over time can get nudged towards the Earth.

“Over time these rocks get bombarded by sunlight and there is a process which re-emits this energy, and gives these fragments a tiny nudge, which can then send them on a collisional path towards Earth.”