Asteroids 2012 XE54 And 4179 Toutatis Miss Earth

We are reminded that close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades as two near miss asteroids passed the Earth on Tuesday December 12, 2012.

2012 XE5, at between 50 – 165 feet, missing our planet by only 139,500 miles or about half the distance to the moon, according to NASA. the object was only detected several days before it whizzed past.

4179 Toutatis, the larger of the two at about 3 miles, missed Earth by 18 lunar lengths. This objects path is well documented by astronomers as it passes by the Earth on a regular basis and is not expected to strike the earth.

Yikes.