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A mountain-sized asteroid which passes Earth every three years has been discovered by a Russian scientist.

Vladimir Lipunov, a professor at Moscow State University, said the space rock, named '2014 UR116', poses no immediate threat - although warned it could 'theoretically' hit Earth..

However, he said it highlights the damage an asteroid could cause - in this case an explosion 1,000 times greater than the surprise 2013 impact of a bus-sized meteor in Russia. 

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Although the space rock, named '2014 UR116', poses no immediate threat.However, he said it highlights the damage an asteroid could cause - in this case an explosion 1,000 times greater than the surprise 2013 impact of a bus-sized meteor in Russia

At 400-metres (1,300 feet) in size, the space rock is about the same size as the Empire State Building is tall.

Proffesor Lipunov said it is difficult to calculate the orbit of big rocks like '2014 UR116' because their trajectories are constantly being changed by the gravitational pull of other planets 

'We need to permanently track this asteroid, because even a small mistake in calculations could have serious consequences,' he said.

Of 100,000 near-Earth objects which can cross our planet's orbit and are large enough to be dangerous, only about 11,000 have so far been tracked and cataloged.

'The exact path of the asteroid until 2014 UR116 is impossible to determine, but in theory it can collide with the Earth, and Mars and Venus,' the University said.

However, Nasa said the discovery posed no risk.  

'Some recent press reports have suggested that an asteroid designated 2014 UR116, found on October 27, 2014, at the MASTER-II observatory in Kislovodsk, Russia, represents an impact threat to the Earth,' it said.

'While this approximately 400-meter sized asteroid has a three year orbital period around the sun and returns to the Earth's neighborhood periodically, it does not represent a threat because its orbital path does not pass sufficiently close to the Earth's orbit.'

Tim Spahr, Director of the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge Massachusetts, has also re-computed this object's orbit after noticing that it was the same as an object observed six years ago. 

Using both sets of observations, the future motion of this asteroid was carried further forward in time using the automatic computations made by the Sentry system at Nasa's Near-Earth Object Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

These computations rule out this object as an impact threat to Earth (or any other planet) for at least the next 150 years.

Last week astronomers and rockstars alike are joined forces to warn the world of the threat posed to the planet by asteroids.

More than 100 leading scientists and astronauts from Dr Brian May to Chris Hadfield have signed a declaration asking for increased action to tackle objects that could end life on Earth.

And in an event scheduled for 30 June 2015, a Live Aid-style concert may be used to drum up support and tell the world just how much danger we are in - unless urgent measures are taken.

At 400-metres (1,300 feet) in size, the space rock is about the same size as the Empire State Building is tall, shown here towering above the New York skyline

More than 1,600 people were injured by the shock wave from the explosion of the Chelyabinsk meteorite (trail shown) in February 2013, estimated to be as strong as 20 Hiroshima atomic bombs. It highlighted the threat Earth faces from incoming asteroids

Known as Asteroid Awareness Day, this global event is being timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Tunguska event in Siberia in 1908.

This was the largest asteroid to impact Earth in recent history, and devastated an area about the size of a major metropolitan region - 800 square miles (2,000 square km).

Live concerts, community events, lectures and other educational programmes are planned to call for the increased detection and mapping of asteroids.

The signatories of the 100x Asteroid Declaration say that available technology should be employed to detect, track and defend Earth from asteroid impacts.

They include British Astronomer Royal Lord Martin Rees, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and TV presenter Brian Cox.

Lord Martin Rees reads 100x Declaration for #AsteroidDay

The experts are calling for a 100-fold increase in the detection and monitoring of so-called near Earth objects (NEOs).

It is estimated that of the million or so asteroids that could cause major damage on Earth, we are aware of only about 10,000 - or one per cent.

This means that at any moment an asteroid could enter the atmosphere and cause widespread destruction, without any prior knowledge.

The possibility of this scenario has been repeatedly hinted at recently by meteorites and fireballs spotted in the sky.

Most notably, in February 2013 more than 1,600 people were injured when a meteor exploded near the city of Chelyabinsk in Russia, the largest recorded meteor strike in more than a century.

The signatories of the 100x Asteroid Declaration say that available technology should be employed to detect, track and defend Earth from asteroid impacts. They include British Astronomer Royal Lord Martin Rees, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and TV presenter Brian Cox (pictured)

'The more we learn about asteroid impacts, the clearer it becomes that the human race has been living on borrowed time,' Dr Brian May said in a statement.

'We are currently aware of less than one per cent of objects comparable to the one that impacted at Tunguska, and nobody knows when the next big one will hit.

'It takes just one.'

Events, to be organised by individuals and independent organisations around the world on 30 June, will lead discussions on solutions to protect all of humanity from future asteroid impacts.

'We have the technology to deflect dangerous asteroids through kinetic impactors and gravity tractors, but only if we have years of advance warning of their trajectories,' stated former Shuttle astronaut Dr Ed Lu.

'Now we need the resolve to go forward. It is the only natural disaster we know how to prevent.'

Other experts pointed to the need to find hazardous asteroids through an accelerated search programme in order to prevent them causing destructive impacts on Earth.  

At the moment Nasa has a number of ground-based telescopes to detect objects that could cause widespread destruction, but experts have called for this to be significantly improved - including an infrared telescope between Earth and Venus to track incoming asteroids.