NASA said the space rock, known as asteroid 2020 QG, passed 1,830 miles (2,950 km) above the southern Indian Ocean. Wednesday 19 August 2020 22:47, UK Asteroid outside Earth Image: Asteroid 2020 QG enters the record books as the closest known, non-impacting space rock. File pic. An asteroid the size of a car has flown past Earth closer than any seen before without hitting the planet - and NASA admits: "We didn't see it coming." Known as asteroid 2020 QG, NASA said the space rock passed 1,830 miles (2,950 km) above the southern Indian Ocean on Sunday. If it had actually been on an impact trajectory, it would likely have become a "fireball" as it broke up in the Earth's atmosphere, the US space agency said. Asteroid 2020 QG (circled) was detected by the Zwicky Transient Facility in California. Pic: ZTF/Caltech Optical Observatories Image: Asteroid 2020 QG (circled) was detected by the Zwicky Transient Facility in California. Pic: ZTF/Caltech Optical Observatories Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California. Pic: Gerard T. van Belle Image: Palomar Observatory in San Diego County, California. Pic: Gerard T. van Belle There are hundreds of millions of small asteroids, but they are extremely hard to discover until they get very close to Earth. "It's really cool to see a small asteroid come by this close, because we can see the Earth's gravity dramatically bend its trajectory," said Paul Chodas, director of the Centre for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
very nice