An asteroid three times the size of a football field is speeding up as it heads towards Earth, new evidence has revealed.
Researchers at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy have found the Apophis asteroid — named after the Egyptian god of chaos — has accelerated due to something known as the Yarkovsky effect.
Scientists claim the phenomenon increases the possibility Apophis will make impact with Earth in 2068; an event previously thought "impossible".
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The asteroid is being pushed around by sunlight. Yarkovsky acceleration comes into play when thermal radiation is no longer uniform, meaning some parts of the space-rock heat up faster than others.
"The new observations we obtained with the Subaru telescope earlier this year were good enough to reveal the Yarkovsky acceleration of Apophis," astronomer Dave Tholen said in a press release.
"They show that the asteroid is drifting away from a purely gravitational orbit by about 170 metres per year, which is enough to keep the 2068 impact scenario in play."
The astronomers will know whether the asteroid will hit Earth long before 2068.
Mr Tholen has been tracking the motion of Apophis in the sky since his team discovered it in 2004.
Aphophis will also make an "extremely close" approach to the Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029.
During this fly-by the 300 metre asteroid will be visible to the naked eye, but there is no chance of impact.
"We have known for some time that an impact with Earth is not possible during the 2029 close approach," Mr Tholen said.
This is not the first time our blue planet has come into close contact with a potentially dangerous asteroid, since the dinosaur-killer, Chicxulub.
In July this year a "pyramid-sized" asteroid big enough to destroy a city narrowly missed hitting the Earth.
It was only spotted by NASA three weeks before it's fly-by.
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