NASA handout image of the passage of asteroid 2012 DA14 through the Earth-moon system

BOSTON: A closely tracked asteroid, about 45 metres wide, whizzed safely past Earth yesterday. Live images from a telescope at the Gingin Observatory in western Australia showed the asteroid looking like a white streak, moving across against the backdrop of a black sky.

Astronomers said the object’s speed and proximity made it a challenge to track, because telescopes had to be aimed precisely or risked missing it. The asteroid, dubbed 2012 DA 14, passed around 27,000 kilometres above the Earth at the time of closest approach, about 1925 GMT, Nasa said.