An asteroid that had astronomers shaking in their boots for fear it would collide with Earth has turned out to be a weak pile of rubble.

According to our friends at SPACE.com:

"A study in 2003 suggested that if asteroid 1950 DA smashed into the Atlantic Ocean, the resulting blast could pack as much energy as a 60,000-megaton explosion, causing tsunami waves at least 200 feet high to crash against the East Coast.

Unexpectedly, the scientists found 1950 DA is a porous rubble pile, about half of which is empty space. They also discovered that the asteroid is spinning faster than the forces of gravity or friction would allow it to remain in one piece."

Everyone can breathe a little easier now.

You can check out the research by Ben Rozitis, an astronomer at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and his colleagues Eric MacLennan and Joshua Emery in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.

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