A close shave

Jun 16, 2012 - Age Correspondent

So did you know an asteroid, named 2012 LZ1 and the size of a city block, flew by Earth on June 14. Believed to be about 1,650 feet wide, it came within 14 times the distance between Earth and the moon, close enough to give astronomers cause for concern.

But what was a bit scary, was that the huge asteroid had popped onto astronomers' radar only last week, discovered on June 11 at Siding Spring Observatory in Australia.
2012 LZ1 is roughly the same size as asteroid 2005 YU55, which made a much-anticipated flyby of Earth last November
Because of its size and proximity to Earth, 2012 LZ1 was as a potentially hazardous asteroid. Near-Earth asteroids generally have to be at least 500 feet wide and come within 4.65 million miles of our planet to be classified as potentially hazardous.
Astronomers have identified nearly 9,000 near-Earth asteroids, but they think many more are hiding out there, waiting to be discovered.

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