Nightly News   |  February 07, 2013

Huge asteroid to whiz by Earth

On Feb. 15 a giant asteroid will be visible as it passes very close to Earth, and there are also predictions of a large solar storm. NBC’s Brian Williams reports.

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This content comes from Closed Captioning that was broadcast along with this program.

>>> two items of space news tonight. both may cause concern, but keep in mind, there's nothing we can do about either one. first of all, an astroid the size of a 15-story building is going to pass very close by on february 15th . it will pass so close, it's going to be beneath the altitude of orbiting satellites at about eight times the speed of a gunshot. satellite owners and operators have been notified to keep their equipment out of the way. australians will probably get the best nighttime view. second, there are predictions of a large solar storm , big enough to knock out satellites and cause earth power surges . experts at the royal academy in the u.k. say it's not if, but when we here on earth will have about 30 minutes notice when it happens. so enjoy your