Nasa Sleeping On The Job

Amateur astronomers have for the first time spotted an asteroid that comes close enough to earth to pose a threat of impact.

Volunteers picked out the cosmic rock - named asteroid 2011 SF108 - last month from the observatory in the Canary Islands.

The breakthrough discovery could signal the first of many more asteroid sighting around the world as keen amateurs become more equipped with advanced technology.

This is not the first asteroid found under SSA sponsorship, but it is the first that qualifies as a ‘near Earth object’ – an object that passes close enough to Earth during its orbit around the Sun that it could pose an impact threat.

During TOTAS observations, the telescope runs automated asteroid surveys for several hours using software developed by amateur astronomer and computer scientist Matthias Busch from the Starkenburg Amateur Observatory in Heppenheim, Germany.

However, potential sightings must still be evaluated by humans.

A team of 20 volunteers analyses each of the images to highlight anything that appears to be moving through space.

YOOHOO NASA are you still awake ,like we will get a warning if one did strike they will be too busy warning the rich and powerful