Astronomers have spied a “planet killer” asteroid hiding in the glare of the sun they say could be “hazardous” to Earth.

Three new near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) were announced in a study published in The Astronomical Journal, with one of them being the biggest found in eight years.

Researchers say the 1.5km-wide asteroid has an orbit that could one day put it in the path of Earth.

Study lead author Scott S Sheppard explained that any space rock bigger than a kilometre is “a size that we call planet killers.”

Click here to sign up for our newsletters.