Newly Discovered Asteroid Zips Past Earth

A newfound asteroid gave Earth a close shave yesterday, zipping between our planet and the moon just two days after astronomers first spotted it.

The near-Earth asteroid 2012 XE54, which was discovered on Dec. 9, came within 140,000 miles of our planet at about 5 a.m. EST Tuesday, researchers said. For comparison, the moon orbits Earth at an average distance of 240,000 miles or so.

Astronomers estimate that 2012 XE54 is about 120 feet wide -- big enough to cause substantial damage if it slams into Earth someday. An object of similar size flattened 800 square miles of forest when it exploded above Siberia's Podkamennaya Tunguska River in 1908.

Asteroid 2012 XE54 also passed thro…
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