 Imagine if we were all forced to spend time at home with family because an asteroid was hurdling towards the earth on a collision course. It could happen, you know, and in all probability, it is destined to happen. At some point over the next few hundred years, another object bigger than the Tungusta asteroid will enter the atmosphere and discharge an atomic amount of energy as witnessed at Chelyabinsk back in 2013. On February the 15th, 2013, a 20-meter Superboulder entered the atmosphere. Traveling at 43,000 miles per hour, it discharged an enormous amount of energy as it disintegrated into the atmosphere and sent shockwaves around the globe. This was like a pebble in comparison to the Apophis asteroid due in 2029 and 2036. But we won't have to wait too long to get our doomsday senses tingling again because there are a few close encounters due this year, one being described as a city killer, believe it or not. The most notable object this year is in that of a huge asteroid half the size of Mount Everest that is set to skim past our planet in April, the largest that will pass us this year. Asteroid 1998 OR-2 will be at its closest distance from Earth on April the 29th, with amateur astronomers in possession of smaller telescopes having the opportunity to see it as a slow moving star. It is estimated to be at least a mile wide but may even be two and a half times as big as these estimates. It is set to pass at four million miles away or 16 times the Earth-Moon distance and incredibly the orbit of asteroid 1998 OR-2 is known for the next 200 years and its closest approach to our planet is in this century and the next will be in 2079 when it will pass within a million miles of us. This asteroid is the largest of all known large near-Earth objects that will pass the planet less than five times the Earth-Moon distance. Over the next two centuries though, further study of the Apophy's situation is needed to confirm this. Its flyby in April this year is the most significant close approach of an asteroid until 2027 when another huge asteroid will pass Earth at 12 lunar distances and we thought you guys may be interested in learning that. Eyes to the Sky for our Stargazing Subscribers