Bus sized Asteroid to brush past Earth Thursday

(Pasadena, CA) -- An asteroid the size of a bus will whiz past the Earth Thursday.

Astronomers say the 40-foot space rock will pass within 56-thousand miles of Earth, which is a safe distance but still considered extremely close by celestial standards. The flyby will be live streamed in the afternoon by the Virtual Telescope Project, starting at 3 p.m. central time.

The asteroid circles the sun about every six years, and is too small to be considered "potentially hazardous" by NASA.