'Mountain-sized' asteroid heading towards earth could be catastrophic

Scientists have warned that a gigantic mountain-sized asteroid that is heading towards earth and could be catastrophic.

According to leading Russian scientist Vladimir Lipunov, asteroid called 2014 UR116 is on a collision course with Earth and he fears that the earth could be in danger of a devastating event, the Daily star reported.

Speaking in a recent documentary Lipunov said that people should track it constantly, because if they have a single mistake, there will be a catastrophe and the consequences can be very serious.

2014 UR116 is over 400 metres in diameter and a direct hit on our planet would cause an explosion 1,000 times greater than Chelyabinsk meteorite and researchers believe that 2014 UR116 comes close to Earth every three years, but its next trajectory can't be determined.

Lipunov and his team are concerned that the gravitational pull of Mercury or Venus, could put it on a collision course with Earth, however, many other experts say that 2014 UR116 poses no immediate threat and the public shouldn't be worried.

NASA have stated on their website that though this approximately 400-meter sized asteroid has a three year orbital period around the sun and returns to the Earth's neighborhood periodically, it does not represent a threat because it's orbital path does not pass sufficiently close to the Earth's orbit.

Experts at the Space Research Institute in Moscow, have warned that governments across the world should take steps to track the many asteroids that whizz past the Earth each year.