A video has been released by NASA which shows a giant asteroid called 4179 Toutatis flying through space around Earth this past week.
The video is 40 seconds long and combines 64 radar images taken from Dec. 12 through Dec 13. by NASA's Deep Space Network antenna in California according to Space.com. Toutatis was around 4.3 million miles, or 7 million kilometers from Earth according to the report.
NASA warns viewers that the video appears faster than the events actually occurred during the beginning of the video.
The radar images have a resolution of 12 feet per pixel and shows the asteroid clearer than ever before. The three-mile-asteroid is shown in the video as an oddly shaped object with many ridges and scientists predict that the glints in the video could have been caused by boulders.
The asteroid was never close enough to possibly cause damage to Earth, but if it was we would have seen a drastic climate change, similar to what happened when they dinosaurs became extinct. Scientist agree that anything over 0.6 miles wide could cause the Earth's climate to change for a significant amount of time.
The asteroid most likely won't be close enough to pose a threat to our planet for at least another four centuries according t Space.com.
Click here to read more about the asteroid and when it passed earth last week.
Toutatis was first discovered in 1934 but was not recognized as an official asteroid and named until 1989. It makes only one trip around the sun every four years according to Space.com.
The closest Toutatis has ever been to Earth was in 2004 when it was "only" 10 million miles away. In comparison this would be about four times the distance between earth and the moon according to Wired.com.
Related Articles:
3-Mile-Wide Asteroid Toutatis Expected To Pass Earth Tonight, Find Out When (Stream Here)
Mile-Wide Asteroid Spotted By NASA In Deep Space (PHOTOS)
Texas Cop Gives Man $100 Bill With Traffic Ticket For Expired Registration Sticker (VIDEO)
Tom Cruise, "Jack Reacher" Co-Stars Involved in Nine Car Collisions On Set, Movie Premiere Postponed Due To Connecticut Shootings (VIDEO)
iOS 6 Untethered Jailbreak: Unlock May Not Happen For iPhone 4S, 5 Users, Developers Giving Up, New Scam Site Reported (VIDEO)
See Now: OnePlus 6: How Different Will It Be From OnePlus 5?
