Asteroid grazes earth this evening and is being tracked by Canarian telescopes

Update 19 February: This video, which is incredible when you think what it portrays, was filmed from the Teide observatory.

Credit & copyright: Daniel López, posted to NASA.

Original post 15 February: Asteroid 2012 DA14 will fly past the Earth today and it is being tracked from the Canaries by several of the telescopes of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC). Thanks to the European Space Agency, you can watch it online HERE, HERE or HERE from around 7pm this evening. For those who have telescopes or astronomical binoculars, it should be visible from the Canaries around 8.30pm: there is a guide to viewing on the IAC’s website HERE.

The asteroid is around 40-50 metres in diameter, and will pass very close (in astronomical terms) to the Earth – some 27,700 km – at a speed of around 28,000 km/h. Some are calling it a “graze” because it is nearer to the Earth than some satellites, many of which are around 38,800 km above the earth’s surface. There is, however, said to be absolutely no chance of it hitting us.