Earth just had a 'close shave' with a 180ft asteroid - and no one saw it coming

Earth just had a 'close shave' with a 180ft asteroid - and no one saw it coming

• Astronomers in Brazil discovered asteroid 2016 QA2 on Saturday
  
• Asteroid thought to be between 80 and 180ft wide (25 and 55m)
  
• The rock passed to within 50,000 miles of Earth just a day later
  
• That's less than a quarter of the distance between Earth and the moon 
  

By Ryan O'Hare for MailOnline
Published: 07:34 EST, 31 August 2016  | Updated: 07:36 EST, 31 August 2016

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Some close calls are enough to keep you awake at night, especially if they concern huge chunks of flaming rock smashing into the planet.
Astronomers marked one such close shave at the weekend after an asteroid larger than a Blue Whale whizzed between the Earth and the moon – a hair’s breadth in astronomical terms.
Brazilian sky watchers had only just discovered the asteroid, called 2016 QA2, the day before it zoomed by within 50,000 miles (80,000 km) of Earth.