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The large space rock – dubbed 2017 VL2 – passed the planet on November 9 at an astonishing distance of just 73,000 miles, which is considered tiny in space terms.

Space boffins think that if the rock measuring between 16 and 32 metres had hit, it could’ve wiped a major city such as New York off the map.

The rock belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids and was first seen at ATLAS-MLO observatory in Hawaii a day later.

It was travelling at a speed of 8.73km/s and would have caused catastrophic damage if it had made impact.

(Image: GETTY)

Now the asteroid has flown past Earth, it is not set to make another flyby until 2125.

NASA recently revealed a space rock the size of a mountain could hit the planet in 2036.

When first discovered in 2014, Apophis had a record-breaking collision risk of four on the Torino scale.

Steve Chesley, a NASA scientist, along with Paul Khodas from the space agency’s jet propulsion laboratory, predicted the collision will occur on April 13, 2036.

“Apophis has been one of those celestial bodies that has captured the public’s interest since it was discovered in 2004,” said Chesley.

“Updated computational techniques and newly available data indicate the probability of an Earth encounter on April 13, 2036, for Apophis has dropped from one-in-45,000 to about four-in-a million,” he added.