Undetected Asteroid Misses Earth

Last month, an undetected asteroid missed hitting the planet Earth, but came much closer to Earth than any other previous known asteroid (one quarter of the distance from the Earth to the Moon). The asteroid, the size of a bus, was detected hours after it wizzed by our planet. If it had hit the earth, it would have most likely done minimal damage. Nevertheless, who knows what bigger rocks are out there heading our way? Astronomers put more and more effort into detecting such asteroids every day. A chilling photo of the recent near-miss asteroid appears at APOD (Astronomy Picture of the Day).