Tiny Asteroid Gives Earth a Close Shave

A small asteroid harmlessly zipped by Earth closer than the orbit of the moon on Wednesday.

At just 3 to 10 feet in diameter, the tiny asteroid — called 2013 RZ53 — would have burned up in Earth's atmosphere if it were on a collision course with the planet, scientists say. 2013 RZ53 made its closest approach to Earth at 6:50 p.m. EDT.

The space rock was expected to miss the planet by about 151,000 miles when it gave Earth a close shave, according to a pre-flyby Twitter post put out by NASA's Near-Earth Object Program (@AsteroidWatch), based at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. [Potentially Dangerous Asteroids (Images)] Read more...