Minor Planet Center/International Astronomical Union
- An asteroid the size of a car flew within about 1,830 miles of Earth this weekend — closer than any known space rock has ever come without crashing into the planet.
- A NASA-funded program detected the asteroid, called 2020 QG, six hours after its close approach.
- If the asteroid had hit Earth, it probably would have exploded in the atmosphere in an airburst too high up to do any damage on the ground.
- But the near miss highlights a major blind spot in Earth's programs to search for dangerous asteroids.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
A car-sized asteroid flew within about 1,830 miles (2,950 kilometers) of Earth on Sunday.
That's a remarkably close shave — the closest ever recorded, in fact, according to asteroid trackers and a catalog compiled by Sormano Astronomical Observatory in Italy.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
NOW WATCH: NASA's 5-step plan for when it discovers a giant, killer asteroid headed straight for Earth
See Also:
- A broken cable smashed a hole 100 feet wide in the Arecibo Observatory, which searches for aliens and tracks dangerous asteroids
- The Perseid meteor shower, which NASA says is the best of the year, peaks Tuesday night. Here's how to catch it.
- Here's what you're actually seeing when you spot a meteor shower
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