Aasteroid the size of a large swimming pool has raced past the Earth An asteroid the size of a large swimming pool has raced past the Earth at a distance of just 27,700km (17,200mi) - the closest ever recorded for an object of that size.Although, there was no risk of a collision, the Asteroid 2012 DA17 passed far closer than many communications and weather satellites, with its closest approach occurring at 7:25 hrs.
NASA broadcast the asteroid's passing live on its website. Meanwhile, the asteroid could be seen with binoculars from Eastern Europe, Asia and Australia.
The news of the asteroid's flight is revealed just hours after a meteorite crashed to Earth in Russia, injuring nearly a thousand people, with three said to be in a critical condition.
Scientists insist that the two events are unrelated and the fact that they occurred a few hours apart is "just a cosmic coincidence", Alan Fitzsimmons of Queens University Belfast told BBC News.
2012 DA14 was first spotted in February 2012 by astronomers at the La Sagra Sky Survey in Spain as they caught sight of the asteroid passing at a far greater distance. From their observations, they were able to calculate the asteroid's future and past paths and predict today's near-miss
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/asteroidflyby.html