Updated 21 June 2002, 10.10

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That makes it the biggest recorded asteroid to come in contact with the Earth's orbit.

One scientist even called it a "close shave."

			Fact File
	Facts about asteroids
		Are made out of rock or metal
		Are scattered throughout the Solar System
		Vary in size from under a mile to over 600 miles in diameter!
		Are mostly found near Mars and Jupiter
		Are also known as minor planets

Known as 2002MN, it flew past the Earth on 14 June, but it remained unnoticed by astronomers until the 17th.

And experts are concerned that it could have remained undiscovered for so long.

But the space rock is considered small when compared with many other asteroids and would not have caused damage on a global scale.

A similar sized object flattened a 20-mile-wide patch of Siberian forest in 1908.

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Web Links
	British National Space Centre
	Comet impact hazards (Nasa)
	National Space Science Centre
	Spaceguard UK
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