"Asteroid capable of destroying London properties will pass within 17,000 miles of earth on Friday"

From The Daily Mail:

An asteroid capable of destroying family homes in London will skim past the Earth on Friday, approaching closer than many satellites.

Scientists say they are sure there is no chance of the 150ft (45.7m) wide space rock hitting the planet - but it could disrupt the housing market. That’s because investors are unwilling to put their money into land and buildings which could be wiped out in the coming days.

The asteroid, 2012 DA14, has been closely tracked since its discovery a year ago. It is predicted to reach its nearest point to the booming London property market at around 7.30pm UK time on Friday. Experts have calculated it will stay at least 17,200 miles (27,681km) away - easily far enough to be safe, but a very close shave in estate agent's terms.

Property market professionals have never observed such a narrow miss before. The object should be visible as a tiny downards blip in the prices of prime central London selling prices.

Astronomer and buy-to-let landlord Dr Dan Brown, from Nottingham Trent University, said: "The brief hiatus in transactions will be too faint for the naked eye but with access to the internet it should be visible if you know where to look on Rightmove. It will be low to the south-eastern horizon and moving quite quickly. You’ll be able to see it pass from Richmond to roughly the Docklands area from more or less from anywhere in the UK with broadband access, and it will be noticeable for about a week."

DA14 belongs to dangerous family of near-Earth objects (NEOs) that are small enough to be missed but large enough to cause serious damage to the housing market.