The 2013 YP139 circles the sun in an elliptical orbit that is tilted to the plane of our solar system.

It is possible that its orbit will bring it as close as 300,000 miles from Earth, slightly more than the distance to the moon.

NEOWISE's role is to assist NASA's efforts to identify potentially hazardous near-Earth objects (NEOs).

The spacecraft will also help in characterising previously detected asteroids that may now be considered potential targets for future exploration missions.

During its primary mission, which was to scan the entire sky in infrared light, the spacecraft discovered more than 34,000 asteroids in 2010 and early 2011.

It was then placed into hibernation for 31 months after it had completed its primary mission.

Last year it was reactivated to search specifically for near Earth objects.

Some of the objects about which NEOWISE will be collecting data could become candidates for Nasa's asteroid initiative, which will be the first mission to identify, capture and relocate an asteroid for astronauts to explore.

Nasa hopes that it will help protect Earth and help achieve their goal of sending humans to an asteroid by 2025.

The observations made by NEOWISE will be sent to the clearing house for solar system bodies to determine the orbit of each asteroid and comet if the object is not known.

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Nasa spacecraft spots 'potentially hazardous' new asteroid