Asteroid on course for close encounter with Earth

Heads up Earthlings! We live in a cosmic shooting gallery, and an asteroid is headed our way this weekend. It will be a close call, but it's close enough to remind us how vulnerable we are to asteroids hurtling through space.

This weekend, an asteroid will fly between Earth and the Moon - just 25,000 miles away from our planet. This asteroid is the size of a house and was just discovered last week. It will fly frighteningly close to the orbit of our satellites which provide vital communications .

This asteroid, named 2014 RC, won't be the closest recent flyby. Astroid 2012DA 14 missed Earth by a measly 17,200 miles away back in February 2013. That same day, a completely unexpected meteor slammed into Cherlyabinsk Russia. It's stunning impact was captured on dozens of cameras.

Former astronaut Ed Lu seems like an unlikely asteroid hunter, but these unexpected asteroid encounters prompted his B612 Foundation to come up with a plan to spot them before its too late.

"We have the evidence these meteors have and will continue to hit our planet, what we need to do is find them first, and alter their orbit," Lu said.

11,000 Near-Earth Objects have been discovered in Earth's neighborhood, with thousands more lurking undiscovered.

The orbit of this weekend's asteroid will take it over Australia and New Zealand, so it won't be visible north of the Equator. We do get a consolation prize: A solar flare will deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field which means a spectacular display of auroras.

The citizen telescope network at Slooh is gearing up for this event and will be broadcasting at www.slooh.com.