A giant asteroid is set to zoom past Earth on Monday under the close eye of astronomers.

The mountain-sized rock was classified as a "potentially hazardous" one, but scientists say there is no danger of it colliding with Earth.

It was anticipated that asteroid 2004 XP14, as it's been dubbed, would be visible through good amateur telescopes.

Its closest approach to Earth, would above the west coast of North America.

Calculations suggest it would be about 268,873 miles (432,709km) from the Earth, only 1.1 times the planet's distance from the Moon.

Scientists are hoping to calculate the precise size and shape of it by bouncing high frequency radio waves off its surface.

According to The BBC, this should also allow them to calculate precisely how close it came to the planet, as well as its velocity and mass, giving clues to its composition and structure.

2004 XP14 was discovered in December 2004 by telescopes used by the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (Linear) project.

Funded by the United States Air Force and NASA, Linear's mission is to survey the sky for potentially dangerous asteroids.

At first, there were concerns that asteroid 2004 XP14 might hit Earth later this century. But after further monitoring, astronomers ruled out such a collision in the foreseeable future.

"It's not Earth-threatening," Don Yeomans, who heads Nasa's Near Earth Object Program, tells the BBC.