Did you know that while you were sound asleep, an asteroid flew by Earth? The 2017 BH30 passed within 40,563 miles of the planet, making it closer than the orbit of the moon, which is 238,000 miles away. Astronomers did not detect 2017 BH30 until just hours before its closest approach. 

According to scientists, 2017 BH30 was approximately 19-23 feet (6 or 7 meters) in diameter. While it is not so large, the asteroid could have had a major impact if it entered the Earth's atmosphere. For example, in 2013, the Chelyabinsk meteor only passed close to Earth, but it caused a spectacular explosion in the sky that broke windows and scattered fragments over a wide area with a thousand injuries totaled.

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Catalina Sky Survey scientists in Tucson discovered the asteroid over the weekend. In a few moments, BH30 passed along Earth at 0451 UTC (almost midnight on the east coast) on January 30.  

Some astronomers got a snap of the event. The asteroid appeared as a tiny dot accompanied by the lines with a highly elliptical orbit. It can go as far as 3.84 AU (an AU is the distance between Earth and the sun) and as close as 0.81 AU.  

If it entered the Earth's atmosphere, scientists assume that it would have disintegrated.

In September 2016, an asteroid called 2016 RB1 also passed by the planet within 24,000 miles. 2016 RB1 was bigger than 2017 BH30, but scientists stress that for an asteroid to be dangerous on a global scale, it should be at least 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) in diameter. 

Nonetheless, even if an asteroid is just a few hundred meters across, it can cause damage to some regions.

Luckily, there was no consequence of the failure to notice BH30's visit.

Astronomers have identified more than 15,000 near-Earth objects, some of which are large enough to cause serious damage.