'Planet killer' asteroids pose no threat to Earth for at least 1,000 years — but smaller rocks could still be a problem

3D rendering of the asteroid passing near the Earth.

Rest easy: Earth probably won't be creamed by a killer asteroid in the next 1,000 years. 

New research accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal and available on the preprint server arXiv.org finds that none of the kilometer-wide (0.6 mile) asteroids that travel near Earth are likely to hit the planet in the next millennium.