A newly-found asteroid passed by earth on early Tuesday at a relatively safe distance of 14,000 miles above the planet's surface. However, the asteroid caused no damage to our planet and communication satellites in orbit, according to reports.
The asteroid, named "2012 KT42," was discovered on Monday. The asteroid entered the Clark Belt of geosynchronous satellites and passed by the earth at around 1230 hours, SN Raghunandan Kumar of Planetary Society of India told Press Trust of India.
The asteroid which was roughly 30 feet wide ranks in the list of ten closest asteroid approaches to the earth. In fact this was the sixth closest approach till date.
Although the asteroid was smaller in size, the approach was significant. The object passed over the Pacific Ocean and Hawaii was the closest approach point. The object was invisible to the naked eye.
Even though the asteroid passed 14, 000 miles above the earth's surface, there was no danger of a collision with the planet and also it poses no serious threat to human life.
"Due to its small structure, the object would most likely have disintegrated in the atmosphere, peppering the ground below with relatively small meteorites fragments," Kumar said.
