Asteroid, as big as Taj Mahal, flew close to Earth but went unnoticed by scientists for two days

An asteroid 2020 LD came closer to the earth than the moon. In a bizarre series of events, the asteroid, which was nearly 100 metres in diameter, almost as big as the Taj Mahal, flew past the earth on June 5 and scientists did not take cognizance of it until two days later. According to the European Space Agency’s Near-Earth Coordination Center, the asteroid was only 0.8 LDs away from the Earth.

According to the Business Insider, 45 asteroids went undetected in 2020. However, this one was the largest of all. The asteroid, which flew by at the speed of 60,826 miles per hour, had the potential to cause massive devastation. In 2013, a 20 metre asteroid, which is a fifth of the 2020 LD, destroyed an area of 500 square kilometres. This was the Cheyabinsk meteor and it could have resulted in significantly more damage, had it exploded closer to Earth.

2020 LD was the 9th largest asteroid in recorded history to ever fly past planet Earth. It was eventually noticed by astronomers in Hawaii, who detected it on June 7.