An asteroid the size of a small motorhome zoomed near Earth on Wednesday night, coming closer to us than the moon ever does.
The 23-foot-long (7-meter) space rock, named 2009 BD, came within 215,000 miles (346,000 kilometers) of Earth at around 8:51 p.m. ET. The moon's average distance from us is about 239,000 miles (385,000 kilometers).
2009 BD never threatened to hit Earth on this pass, researchers said. But even if the asteroid had slammed into us, it wouldn't have been a big deal.
"2009 BD is a small object, 7 meters, and poses no threat," scientists with NASA's Asteroid Watch program tweeted yesterday. "Rocky objects this size would break apart in our atmosphere and cause no damage." [ Photos of Asteroids in Deep Space ]
The asteroid's small size also made it a tough target for skywatchers. A large telescope was necessary to see it on Wednesday night, researchers said.
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