Gigantic asteroid shaped ‘like a clenched fist’ could be threat to humanity

ASTRONOMERS have warned that a "fist shaped" asteroid is a potential threat to the future of humanity.

A team of stargazers have zoomed in on a space rock called Asteroid (162421) 2000 ET70 in a bid to understand its size, shape and rotation.

[vimeo 85406899 w=640 h=360]

from on .

These aspects of a space rock are fundamentally important to assessing the risk it poses to humanity, because they determine its path through space.

The astronomers, who come from a number of American universities, said the space rock's size and trajectory  "make it a potentially hazardous asteroid".

NASA previously said that "little is known about" the space rock.

Now astronomers have zeroed in on the asteroid using a variety of observational methods to reveal its "clenched fist appearance".

The team found the space rock was much larger than previously though, stretching to almost two miles wide.

Is has already passed reasonably close to Earth, coming within 18 "lunar distances" in 2012.

However, it is expected to come much closer in the coming decades and centuries, meaning it could end up slamming straight into our planet.

It has been placed on a list of potentially hazardous asteroids and scientists have warned that predicting the path of these dangerous space rocks is extremely difficult.