It was a close shave - and luckily we survived.

A 32ft (10 metre) long asteroid passed by at a distance of one tenth of the distance between Earth and the moon earlier .

This close encounter will be followed by a much larger asteroid, 200ft (61 metres) long, that is set to pass us by in just a few days.

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The 32-foot (10 metre) long asteroid passed by at a distance of one tenth of the distance between Earth and the moon, according to data from Nasa. This animated gif of asteroid 2016 RB1’s close approach to Earth was imaged by astronomer Gianluca Masi on the evening of Sept. 6, 2016, using the Virtual Telescope located in Ceccano, Central Italy.

THE ASTEROIDS HEADING FOR EARTH A 32-foot (10 metre) long asteroid will pass by at a distance of one tenth of the distance between Earth and the moon today. A nother, much larger, asteroid is also set to sweep past us today - one that could cause 'devastation' if it hit our planet. The huge asteroid could be up to a mile long (1.6km). But luckily the giant will pass at a safe distance of 7.3 million miles. Another huge asteroid will come hurtling towards Earth next week, and will sweep by more closely. The space rock is predicted to whistle past our planet at 31,000 miles (50,000km) per hour, on September 17. Advertisement

'Because the asteroid’s orbit carried it below (or over) Earth’s south pole, it did not pass within the orbits of communication or weather satellites,' Nasa confirmed following the close encounter.

2016 RB1 is estimated to be between 25 to 50 feet (7 and 16 meters) in diameter.

It is the closest the space rock will come to Earth for at least the next half century.

According to the Virtual Telescope project the asteroid, named 2016 RB1, 'will make an exceptionally close encounter with our home planet.'

At the flyby time, 18:12 BST or 13:12 ET, the asteroid will be at about 24,800 miles (40,000 km) from the Earth's surface.

For comparison, the average distance to the moon is 239,000 miles (384,000 km), which means the asteroid will pass at a tenth of that distance.

The Virtual Telescope project discovered the asteroid yesterday, and says when it passes Earth the asteroid will be visible from the southern hemisphere only.

The Virtual Telescope captured photographs of the asteroid.

But this is not the only close encounter we should expect this week.

According to a Nasa database a nother, much larger, asteroid is also set to sweep past us today - one that could cause 'devastation' if it hit our planet.

According to the Virtual Telescope project the asteroid, named 2016 RB1, 'will make an exceptionally close encounter with our home planet.' When the asteroid passes Earth the asteroid will be visible from the southern hemisphere only

The huge asteroid could be up to a mile long (1.6km). But luckily the giant will pass at a safe distance of 7.3 million miles.

According to Space.com, an asteroid would need to be of larger than 0.6 miles wide (1 km) to have the force to wipe out humanity.

An asteroid will pass extremely near our planet today. The 32-foot (10 metre) long asteroid will pass by at a distance of one tenth of the distance between Earth and the moon

Another huge asteroid will come hurtling towards Earth next week, and will sweep by more closely.

The space rock is predicted to whistle past our planet at 31,000 miles (50,000km) per hour, on September 17.

Nasa is not certain of the time of the pass due to relying on estimated calculations, and could be up to 16 minutes out on the estimated flyby.