Asteroid to narrowly miss Earth AN asteroid will zoom within spitting distance of Earth in one week, in what NASA says is the closest fly-by ever predicted for an object this large. And astronomers say it will be visible in Australia, with a little help from a telescope, from around half past six in the morning (0624 AEDT February 16) on Saturday. The asteroid, dubbed 2012 DA 14, was discovered by chance by astronomers after passing nearby last February. It's passing 27-thousand-700 kilometres above Earth's surface when it speeds by, closer than the orbit of most weather and communications satellites.