No one saw it coming until it was right on top of us. More like above us, actually.
A previously unseen asteroid [of the Apollo group] the size of a truck flew about 4,350 miles (7,000 kilometers) over the Pacific Ocean on Monday [May 4], making it one of the closest passes by our planet on record [0.03 lunar distances (LD)]. Asteroid 2020 JJ is estimated to be between nine and 20 feet (2.7 to 6 meters) across, making it a pretty puny little hunk of space junk.
Astronomers had no notice of asteroid 2020 JJ's existence, as it was discovered using the Mt. Lemmon Survey in Arizona right around the time it reached its closest point to us.
Had 2020 JJ actually struck Earth, most of it probably would have burned up in the atmosphere. In other words, this space rock wasn't any sort of existential threat, but it did fly closer than many of the satellites orbiting our planet and could have potentially struck one, creating a big mess.
Source: Asteroid sneaks past satellites in one of the closest flybys on record
07 May 2020, 9:36 am
