A football field-sized asteroid just passed by the earth and no one noticed

In early June, an asteroid bigger than a football field flew by Earth undetected by astronomers. The asteroid came closer to the earth than our moon, according to Global News.

It is the biggest asteroid that has come close to the Earth in nine years, and if it had hit the planet it would have potentially created a nuclear-sized explosion, says the impact predictor at Purdue University.

The asteroid—called 2020 LD—was noticed two days after it passed by the earth, according to data from Nasa. It was anywhere from 89 to 200 meters across and was within about 306,000 kilometres of Earth, says NASA.

A telescope in Hawaii first detected the asteroid, reports Forbes. On June 7, the asteroid was spotted by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) which attempted to figure out its previous and future locations. An analysis showed that the system completely missed the asteroid as it flew by earth even though the NASA-funded system is designed to spot potential planet- or city-destroying asteroids.

Many asteroids fly between the moon and Earth every year. They are usually identified and taken note of by ATLAS and others.

The last time Earth was threatened by an asteroid was in 2019 after a 100 meter asteroid passed by the planet within 73,000 kilometres. The asteroid was called 2019 OK and was a potential “city killer.”

Data shows that 2020 LD will not pass by any closer than it did recently in the next 60 years.

The asteroid has the potential to put a kilometre-wide crater in the Earth, though angle and speed are also largely responsible for the amount of destruction an asteroid creates.

The meteor that was caught by many cameras flying over Chelaybinsk Russia, was only 20 meters wide and the one people believe to be responsible for the extinction of dinosaurs was about 16 kilometres wide. NASA’s near approach list does not currently show any 16 kilometre wide asteroids.