NASA Releases Video of Asteroid Flyby (VIDEO)

NASA has released a video of the asteroid that flew by Earth over the weekend and came closer to the planet that some communication satellites.

The footage was recorded by a combination of radar observations by NASA Deep Space Network radio antenna located in Goldstone, California. The antenna recorded 72 images of the 2012 DA14 asteroid, which was 74,000 miles away from Earth at the time, according to Space.com.

"The images span close to eight hours and clearly show an elongated object undergoing roughly one full rotation," NASA officials said. The asteroid traveled 195,000 miles away from Earth during the eight hours of recorded footage.

The asteroid came as close as 17,200 miles of Earth and experts believe it was about 130-feet wide at its largest point. The asteroid was discovered by astronomers at the La Sagra Observatory in Spain leading astronomers to track the space rock as it approached Earth. The planet was never in any danger of being struck.

The 2012 DA14 asteroid flyby is the closest and the largest that astronomers have known of in advance, reports say. The asteroid flew pass by Earth 5,000 miles closer than some communication satellites that orbit Earth at 22,400 miles.