# Yikes! How did we miss 2017 VL2?

The Tech Times article NASA Fails To Spot Whale-Sized Asteroid That Skimmed Past Earth says that Asteroid 2017 VL2 passed the Earth within about 120,000 km, or about 1/3 the distance of the Moon on November 9 (2017) but wasn't spotted until November 10 by Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii. It is estimated to be about 16 to 32 meters in diameter.

Is this below the threshold where there is good data on NEOs that may impact Earth, or in fact is there not yet good data on that?

How safe are we? More specifically, is there in fact little data on potential NEOs in this size range (~30 meters)?

Slight irony in the timing - see the BBC's Asteroid close approach to test warning systems where the similarly sized and well documented 2012 TC4 which passed the Earth two months ago.

As an aside, the much larger 3200 Phaethon will pass much farther from the Earth next week, and is expected to produce excellent radar imaging. See also (Sky and Telescope and Astronomy Now).

AsteroidDay.org shorts:

Also:

below: from here.

• Whale sized doesn't sound that big, yet according to the article it could wipe out NYC. I haven't seen the science behind that figure. – GdD Dec 11 '17 at 13:36
• @GdD ya, what it lacks in $m$ it makes up for in $v^2$. – uhoh Dec 11 '17 at 15:30