The speedy asteroid came flying past Earth perilously close in the early evening hours of September 9. NASA estimated the rock came closest to Earth around 8.13pm BST (7.13pm UTC). The asteroid’s flyby was tracked by NASA’s Centre for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at the California Institute of Technology. NASA’s CNEOS tracks all asteroids and comets that threaten to strike Earth.

The asteroid, dubbed by NASA Asteroid 2019 RG2, is an Apollo-type Near-Earth Object or NEO. Apollo asteroids fly around the inner rings of the solar system on a trajectory similar to Asteroid 1862 Apollo. NEOs, on the other hand, are all comets and asteroids that closely orbit the Earth. Occasionally, an NEO like RG2 will catastrophically cross paths with our home planet. READ MORE: How often do asteroids hit Earth? What is the risk of impact?

NASA asteroid: A speedy asteroid will come zipping past Earth on September 9

Asteroid fact box: Interesting facts and figures on asteroids

NASA said: “As they orbit the Sun, Near-Earth Objects can occasionally approach close to Earth.

Near-Earth Objects can occasionally approach close to Earth NASA

“Note that a ‘close’ passage astronomically can be very far away in human terms: millions or even tens of millions of kilometres.” The US space agency estimates Asteroid RG2 measures somewhere in the range of 29ft to 65.6ft (8.9m to 20m). When a 65.6ft (20m) rock exploded over Russia’s Chelyabinsk Oblast in 2013, the shockwave blew out windows in a wide radius and injured more than 1,000 people with shards of glass. READ MORE: Scientist warns deadly asteroid will hit Earth

At the time, NASA dubbed the unexpected asteroid strike a “wake-up call” to the threats lurking in space. Asteroid RG2 made a so-called Earth Close Approach last night but, thankfully, it did not hit the planet. The space rock closed-in on Earth at breakneck speeds of around 21.99km per second or 49,190mph (79,166kph). At its closest approach, the asteroid near-missed the Earth from a distance of approximately 0.00350 astronomical units (au). READ MORE: ‘God of Chaos’ asteroid more likely to hit Earth than plane crash

NASA asteroid: The giant space rock measures up to 65.6ft (20m) in diameter

NASA asteroid: Thankfully the space rock will not strike the Earth today or in the foreseeable futur