A Near Earth Object will live up to its name next week as it grazes the earth-moon system. It won’t hit us, and that’s good. Because this sucker is plenty big enough to do some damage. But it will come close in astronomical terms:

The 8 km impact crater in Ghana, Africa.

The asteroid, designated 2005 YU55, will pass Earth at a distance of about 325,000 kilometers, just inside the orbit of the moon. Asteroids come that close frequently, but 2005 YU55 is notable for its dimensions: 400 meters in diameter. NASA says the asteroid is the size of an aircraft carrier, but it’s actually even larger.

What would an object this size do if it ever were to hit us? Depends on what it’s made of, gravel, rock, metal, and where it hits, water, land, etc. But using an impact simulator, if we assume average density and a strike on land near a major city, it would be comparable to a third of all the world’s nukes in local destructive force and shockwave, and a once in a millennium volcano showering flaming debris for hundreds of miles around the epicenter. The crater would be 3 miles wide and a thousand feet deep. In fact, if you were close enough to its re-entry path, and looked up as it flew overhead miles above, the light would cook your retinas like tiny, fried eggs in their sockets, and the irradiance could be so great your clothes and hair would burst into flames.