A 20-metre space rock will pass super close to earth on Monday morning

But it will be a celestial disappointment for Tauranga space gazers as they won't get to see it.

The newly discovered asteroid will hurtle safely past about 40,000 km above Earth and it will be roughly over New Zealand at about 6.18am on Monday.

The President of the Tauranga Astronomical Society Stuart Murray won't be getting up for the moment. And it seems pointless for anyone else expecting to see it with the naked eye, even though the asteroid will be only a tenth of the distance from the centre of Earth to the moon at its closest point.

'The visibility will be negligible and we have no idea of the trajectory,” says Stuart.

'It is disappointing.”

The Society relishes a space event, but 'anything above magnitude six to seven is beyond the human eye. In other words the asteroid will be just to faint for us to see”.

'The Society was hoping the asteroid might pass through our upper atmosphere where it would have been both visible and dangerous had it exploded.”

NASA has issued a reassurance that the asteroid, designated 2014 RC, will pass very close to earth but will pass safely.

While this celestial object doesn't appear to pose any threat to Earth or satellites, its flight path will bring it back into the planet's neighbourhood in the future. It will be monitored.