Asteroid carrying platinum worth $5 trillion set to pass by Earth

An asteroid containing platinum worth $5 trillion, is set to pass by Earth, on July 19 at 11 pm (London time).

Folks in India can watch Asteroid UW-158, with a 90 million tonne core, live via the internet at 4 am on Monday.

The asteroid will be 30 times closer than Earth's closest planet, reported the Mirror.

An organisation called Slooh, that links telescopes to the internet, will broadcast images of the asteroid from an observatory in the Canary Islands, off the coast of northwestern Africa.

Join us Sunday @ 6pm ET to talk asteroid mining & watch the #TrillionDollarBaby fly by Earth! http://t.co/yY6M0elnHI pic.twitter.com/S5U4QS3Ncj

— SLOOH (@Slooh) July 18, 2015

Slooh Astronomer Bob Berman says it is the large amount of platinum believed to be in the asteroid, that makes the event unique, reports the Mirror.

UW-158 "has captured the attention of asteroid miners who wish to tap into the bountiful resources of the solar system", it states on Slooth's website.

Planetary Resources, an asteroid mining company defines asteroids like UW-158, 'X-type'. The company has catalogued dozens of similar asteroids across the solar system.