A newly discovered asteroid just whizzed past Earth, marking the second-closest asteroid flyby on record, astronomers say.

The asteroid flew over Antarctica just before 9 p.m. ET on Sept. 30, about 266 miles (428 kilometers) above Earth’s surface, according to the European Space Agency.

"This is a similar altitude to the orbit of the International Space Station, and one of the closest approaches ever recorded," the agency said.

The approach comes nearly five years after another asteroid, 2020 VT4, flew over a patch of ocean near French Polynesia about 230 miles (370 kilometers) from Earth, a record-breaking distance the Near-Earth Objects Coordination Centre called "a remarkably close miss."

This asteroid, dubbed 2025 TF, is an estimated 3 to 10 feet wide. Objects of that size don't pose a threat to the planet, but "they can produce fireballs if they strike Earth’s atmosphere, and may result in the discovery of small meteorites on the ground," the agency said. In contrast, the "city killer" asteroid 2024 YR, which has a slight chance of striking the moon, has an estimated diameter of up to 300 feet, or about the size of a 30-story building.

2025 TF was first spotted by the Catalina Sky Survey a few hours after it flew by Earth. It was then observed by European astronomers using the Las Cumbres Observatory telescope in Siding Spring, Australia.

The Catalina Sky Survey is a NASA-funded project based at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Lab. A spokesperson for NASA could not be reached for comment because the agency is closed amid a government shutdown.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: An asteroid just made 'one of the closest approaches ever' to Earth

Reporting by N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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