Asteroid of ‘Potentially Hazardous’ Size Makes Safe Flyby Past Earth

We made it.

A massive and “potentially hazardous” asteroid whizzed by Earth on Tuesday, traveling at over 43,000 miles per hour.

The asteroid, named 1994 PC1, was about half-mile wide and the length of 10 football fields.

NASA officials reported it safely passed Earth 1.2 million miles away.
For reference, the moon is an average 238,000 miles away from our planet.

But, sky gazers with amateur telescopes were able to catch a glimpse of the asteroid, which is not predicted to come this close to Earth again for another 83 years.