Tiny Asteroid 2012 KT42 Crossing The Sky

Don't panic; this is 2,000 times actual speed. However, the asteroid was traveling at 17km/sec (38,000 mph) and came 2.5 times closer than our geosynchronous satellites. It was far too small to make it through our atmosphere anyway. Each image is a 3 second exposure, during which the object moved, creating a trail. The images were taken on 2012 May 29 between 4:30 and 6:55 UT, the latter being 6 minutes before closest approach. (Courtesy Alex R. Gibbs, Catalina Sky Survey, University of Arizona, NASA Near-Earth Object Program.)