The British agency responsible for identifying potentially hazardous asteroids says US astronomers are warning of a possible collision in 2014. The UK Government's Near Earth Object Centre says American astronomers have discovered a large, fast-approaching asteroid that could hit the earth on 21 March, 2014. But they add the chances of it doing so are just 1 in 909,000. What is more, any risk of an impact is likely to decrease as further data is gathered, they say. The BBC's science correspondent Christine McGourty says that, although the chances this asteroid will hit the Earth are slim, it is considered worth monitoring due to its sheer size and velocity. The rock is said to measure approximately two thirds of a mile across - only one tenth of the size of the meteor thought to have wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. It is travelling at a speed of about 20 miles per second. "In theory such an asteroid could cause devastation across an entire continent," Christine McGourty says. It has been labelled "2003 QQ 47" and astronomers will be monitoring it closely for the next two months.
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