Asteroid 2011 MD

Yesterday 27th June an asteroid which size is tour bus is zipped by earth. Asteroid in a flyby so close that the space rock was nearer to the planet than some satellites, giving sky-watchers and astronomers a tantalizing target for photos. Asteroid is called space rock. The asteroid is reached its closest point to Earth just after 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT), when it crept within 7,500 miles (12,000 km) of Earth before whipping away again like a slingshot. The asteroid was flying over the southern Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Antarctica, at the time of its closest approach.

This asteroid MD 2011 was passed 240 miles from earth and it is also broken the record of asteroid CQ1. When 2011 CQ1 passed overhead in early February, it came within 7,366 miles of Earth's surface. Asteroids of this size pass close to Earth about once every six years. The space rock is on the small side, with latest size estimates ranging from 16 to 66 feet (5 to 20 meters) wide.

The asteroid's close brush with Earth sent it off on a new trajectory through the solar system. The space rock flew well below geosynchronous satellites, which orbit 22,236 miles (35,786 km) above Earth, but well above the 220-mile (354-km) altitude of the International Space Station.