Asteroid 2012 DA14 passing close to Earth in 2013

Asteroid 2012 DA14 passing Earth's satellite ring | NASA Illustration

Asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass within about 3.5 Earth radii of the Earth's surface on February 15, 2013, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said Tuesday.

NASA said that the 45-meter asteroid will pass inside the geosynchronous satellite ring, located about 35,800 km above the equator.

"The asteroid will travel rapidly from the southern evening sky into the northern morning sky with its closest Earth approach occurring about 19:26 UTC when it will achieve a magnitude of less than seven, which is somewhat fainter than naked eye visibility. About 4 minutes after its Earth close approach, there is a good chance it will pass into the Earth's shadow for about 18 minutes or so before reappearing from the eclipse. When traveling rapidly into the northern morning sky, 2012 DA14 will quickly fade in brightness," NASA wrote

Asteroid 2012 DA14 was discovered late last month by astronomers at the La Sagra Observatory in southern Spain.