Close Call: Newly Discovered Asteroid Whizzes Past Earth

Published January 14, 2015

Scientists say a newly discovered asteroid whizzed harmlessly past Earth on Wednesday, the second close encounter in a month.

The small space rock dubbed 2009 FH flew within 49,000 miles of the Earth's surface at 8:17 a.m. EDT.

Don Yeomans, who heads NASA's Near-Earth Object Program, says there was never any chance of an impact.

The asteroid, measuring 43 feet and 95 feet across, was spotted Monday night by the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona.

An asteroid this size usually comes this close to Earth every few months.

Wednesday's flyby was farther away than another asteroid close call earlier this month. That asteroid was about the size of one that blasted Siberia a century ago came within 41,000 miles of Earth.

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