GIF: XE54
A three-mile wide asteroid came, in galactic terms, rather close to Earth on Tuesday.
The catchily monikered, 2012 XE54 asteroid passed in between the Earth and the Moon at a distance of 141,000 miles (260,000 km).
The asteroid passed through the Earth's shadow causing it to be eclipsed for a whole 40 minutes, reports Universe Today.
The GIF above shows a simulation of what the view of Earth would look like from XE54.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Pasquale Tricarico of the Planetary Science Institute who made it, said: "A close analysis of the trajectory of this asteroid reveals that it will likely cross the Earth's shadow, causing a partial eclipse of the asteroid a few hours before reaching its minimum distance with the Earth."
Another asteroid, 4179 Toutatis, passed by a little further away on Tuesday night, a mere 4.3 million miles (6.9 million km) away.