Giant asteroid flies close by Earth (relatively speaking)
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Photographer: Russian Space Agency
Posted: 12/12/2012
Some people may interpret it as another sign of the approaching end of the world, but really it's just an astronomical event.
NASA reports a giant asteroid did pass by close to Earth Tuesday.
The space rock -- named 4-1-7-9 Toutatis -- came within a few million miles of our planet, or 18 times the distance to the moon.
Astronomers said Toutatis comes close to Earth every several years, but there is no risk of a collision anytime soon.
According to the Wired.com , the asteroid is almost half the size of the one that caused the extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago. But Wired added the chances of the object smashing into the planet are effectively zero for the next 600 years.
A separate and much smaller asteroid discovered just a few days ago also came close to Earth Tuesday.
Copyright CNN
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