Large asteroid to approach Earth on Feb 16 - Russian scientists

MOSCOW. Feb 13 (Interfax) - A large asteroid, around 800 meters in diameter, will pass by Earth at a distance of 4.6 million kilometers on February 16, the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics of the Russian Academy of Sciences said.

"Scientific cooperation specialists of the International Scientific Optical Network of the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics are watching quite a large [some 800 meters in diameter] asteroid, 199145 (2005 YY128), which is due to come 4.6 million km close to Earth on February 16, moving at 24.6 km per second," according to a report published on the institute's Telegram channel.

According to scientists, the precise astrometry of the asteroid makes it possible to determine its trajectory and the degree of danger to Earth.