An asteroid feared to be on a collision course with Earth no longer poses a significant risk to the planet.
Experts previously said there was up to a one in 500 chance of the space rock, which is as wide as two football pitches, crashing into Earth in February 2040.
However, when astronomers made further observations to better predict the asteroid's course, they found it would pass no closer than 550,000 miles to the planet - a distance equivalent to more than two trips to the moon.
The updated trajectory was drawn up by NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office, based at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
They relied on data from a team at the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy, who used the eight-metre Gemini North telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, to find the faint asteroid, known as 2011 AG5.
Their research greatly reduced uncertainties about the object's orbit and eliminated fears it would cross Earth's path.
Asteroid 2011 AG5 has a diameter of 140 metres and is one of more than 8,700 near-Earth objects known to scientists.
It was found by astronomers at the top of Mount Lemmon in the Catalina Mountains, near Tuscon, Arizona, in January 2011.
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