AN asteroid the size of a small truck zoomed passed Earth, at a distance four times closer than that the moon.

The latest parade of visiting celestial objects has raised awareness of the potential threat.

Nasa said Asteroid 2013 LR6 was discovered only a day before its closest approach to Earth, yesterday about 65,000 miles over the South Ocean of Tasmania, Australia.

As it turned out, the 30ft-wide (10-metre) asteroid posed no threat.

A week ago, the comparatively huge 1.7-mile-wide asteroid QE2 passed 3.6 million miles from Earth.