Newly discovered asteroid to fly past Earth this week

A newly discovered asteroid is set to fly past Earth this week.

The space rock has been given the name 2026 JH2 and is thought to be up to around 35 metres wide - around the length of a 5-a-side football pitch.

Experts say that it's due to fly by Earth on Monday, within the orbit of the Moon.

But there is nothing to worry about - astronomers have said there is zero risk of impact as it will pass by our planet at a safe distance and has been classed as a near-Earth asteroid.

2026 JH2 was first spotted last week by the Mount Lemmon Survey, an astronomical project based at the Mount Lemmon Observatory in the US state of Arizona.

It has been classified as a near-Earth asteroid and is set to get within around 50,000 miles of Earth when it flies past our planet on Monday evening.

That's around a quarter of the distance between Earth and the Moon.

Experts think that 2026 JH2 is between 16 - 35 metres wide.

It is too faint to be seen with the human eye, but as it makes its closest approach to Earth, it should be visible through a telescope from some parts of the world.

Asteroids are big chunks of rock which float through space and orbit the Sun.

They are much smaller than planets and can vary in size.

Like asteroids, comets also float through space orbiting the Sun.

However, comets are made up of ice and dust, not rock - a bit like a giant dirty snowball.

As the comet moves towards the Sun, the heat begins to melt the ice and dust - turning it from a solid to a gas and creating a beautiful, bright tail.