An asteroid called asteroid 2012 TC4 passed by earth Oct. 12.
The asteroid, which was not at risk of hitting earth, passed by at a range of just 59,000 miles (95,000 kilometers) -about one-fourth the distance to the moon," space.com reported.
The asteroid 2012 TC4 will pass Earth at a range of just 59,000 miles (95,000 kilometers) -about one-fourth the distance to the moon - when it makes its closest point today, NASA scientists said. The asteroid was discovered by astronomers on Oct. 4 and is about 56 feet (17 meters) across.
The asteroid was discovered on Oct. 4 by astronomers and it is a size of 56 feet across, Space.com reported.
The Daily Mail reported that NASA's Asteroid Watch programme wrote on Twitter that ,"Small asteroid 2012 TC4 will safely pass Earth Oct. 12 at just .25 the distance to our moon's orbit."
Past estimates of the asteroid "by astronomers said that an asteroid about 460 feet wide (140 meters) would cause widespread damage on the planet," space.com reported.
The moons orbit is on average 238,000 miles, The Daily Mail reported and the asteroid is big enough for amateur astronomers to see using a telescope.
On Sunday, asteroid 2012 TV also "passed inside the moon's orbit, missing Earth by about 158,000 miles (255,000 kilometers)," the Daily Mail reported. That asteroid was 100 feet.
The Sentinel Space Telescope is also set to launch by officials with the B16 Foundation. The telescope will scan for near-earth asteroids. Space.com reported that the new telescope is "designed to search for asteroids from an observation spot near the orbit of Venus."
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