An asteroid travelling at 33,000 mph came closer than the Moon when it hurtles past Earth on Wednesday night.

The newly discovered asteroid 2014 DX110 is expected to make its closest approach when it reaches a distance of less than 217,000 miles from the Earth at about 9.07pm.  The moon is on average 238,000 miles from Earth.

The 98-foot-wide Apollo class asteroid will not collide with Earth, according to scientists, but will provide excellent views for those with a good telescope.

The Virtual Telescope Project and Slooh will be providing a live, online event sharing real-time images of the asteroid from 8.30pm tonight.

Relatively close approaches such as this occur frequently, although the DX110 is extra close.

Last month the asteroid 2000 EM26 streaked past Earth at 27, 000 mph, a year after a ten-ton meteor entered the earth’s atmosphere at 33,000mph, exploding over Chelyabinsk, 900 milles east of Moscow.