Powerful asteroid whizzes past earth

An asteroid as powerful as 15 atomic bombs has whizzed past the earth at a distance about 10 times that of the moon.

• Astronomers first spotted the cigar—shaped object, identified as Asteroid 2011 GP59, spinning through space a week ago and tracked its movement, the Daily Mail reported.
• The 50-metre-long rock that could have destroyed a small country, however, went barely noticed as it passed earth at a distance of some 2,085,321 miles, the report said.
• The asteroid, which was recorded with an 11-inch telescope, was around 2,085,321 miles away from the earth — about 10 times the distance of the moon, which is 238,857 miles.
• It was picked up by astronomers at the Observatorio Astronomico de Mallorca in Andalusia, Spain, who have since determined that it's heading towards the earth.