by A low-flying space rock set a record last Friday (appropriately, the 13th), when 2020 VT4 passed just under 400 kilometers (250 miles) over the Southern Pacific.
The asteroid was spotted by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) survey at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii in the early morning hours of Saturday, November 14, just 15 hours after approach. This is not uncommon for fast-movers, especially asteroids that are coming at the Earth from our sunward blind spot, like 2020 VT4.
The asteroid- 2020 VT4 is estimated to be 5 to 10 meters (16-32 feet) across, about the size of a small house. Earth just missed occupying the same space as the perihelion point for the asteroid, which occurred just 20 hours prior to Earth passage.
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The asteroid was spotted by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) survey at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii in the early morning hours of Saturday, November 14, just 15 hours after approach. This is not uncommon for fast-movers, especially asteroids that are coming at the Earth from our sunward blind spot, like 2020 VT4.
The asteroid- 2020 VT4 is estimated to be 5 to 10 meters (16-32 feet) across, about the size of a small house. Earth just missed occupying the same space as the perihelion point for the asteroid, which occurred just 20 hours prior to Earth passage.
Continued...
Source
