Ukrainian astronomers have just discovered a 1,350-foot-wide asteroid which they warned would collide with Earth on Aug 20, 2032.

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The discovery is listed in NASA's Near Earth Object Program Web site, particularly its Torino Scale which has a regular update chart classifying asteroid impact risk by category.

It got a rating of 1 out of 10 which means the event deserves careful monitoring even if the description said its passing near Earth is predicted to pose no unusual level of danger. It added that new telescopic observations could likely lead to its reassignment to Level 0.

Despite its current Level 1 classification, the asteroid, called 2013 TV135, is still considered potentially hazardous as its orbit is forecast at 1.7 million kilometres from Earth.

Scientists from Italy, Spain, YK and the Siberian Republic of Buryatia in Russia have also confirmed the initial discovery made by astronomers from the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in southern Ukraine.

It is the second Scale 1 object identified by astronomers after the 2007 VK184, calculated to be 603 feet in diameter and has 1,750 chances of hitting Earth between 2048 and 2075.

If ever 2013 TV135 would collide with Earth, scientists estimate the resulting explosion would be like the equivalent of 2,500 megatonnes of TNT or "50 times greater than the biggest nuclear bomb ever detonated."

Igor Korotchenko, a Russian senior defense expert, said for the next half century, humans would still not be capable of protecting the planet where they live against meteors and asteroids.

"We, humankind, can intercept missiles and planes manufactured by man, but our radars and missiles are helpless against asteroids, as they travel at faster speeds of dozens of miles per second, they have different trajectories and they can be much, much bigger than strategic missiles we are dealing with today," LA Times quoted Mr Korotchenko, the editor-in-chief of the National Defense Journal.

Mr Korotchenko's analysis could give rise to speculations of another end-of-the world scenario since the date of 2013 TV135's anticipated collision with Earth is within the 50-year span he mentioned.