BUFFALO, N.Y. — Over this past weekend, an SUV-sized asteroid was detected at close range to Earth as it flew by the planet.
Identified as "2020 QG," this asteroid passed by 1,830 miles above the southern Indian Ocean on Sunday, August 16th at 12:08 a.m. EDT. This set a new record for closest flyby to Earth on record by an asteroid. 2020 QG was relatively small in size, approximated at only 10 to 20 feet in diameter. So, if this asteroid would have had an impact trajectory, it would have likely become a fireball and broken apart in the Earth's atmosphere before reaching the ground.
An asteroid is a small, rocky object that orbit its the sun in our solar system. Asteroids are much smaller than planets, but the sun's gravitational pull is strong enough to keep them in orbit. Most stay within the defined "Asteroid Belt," the region between Mars and Jupiter.
