Asteroid 2012 DA14, a near Earth asteroid, will not hit Earth in 2013 but will come pretty close, according to NASA researchers. On Feb.15, 2013, Asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass Earth at a distance of about 27,000 kilometers (17,000 miles), which Discover Magazine said is well beneath many of the Earth's own orbiting satellites.

Astronomers at the Observatorio Astronómico de La Sagra in Spain discovered the asteroid in late February, according to Discover Magazine. The small near-Earth asteroid is said to be about 45 meters (150 feet) in diameter. It also has an orbit that is similar to that of our planet.

MSNBC reported that NASA scientists said that Asteroid 2012 DA14 will pose no real impact danger when it does pass.

Its orbit about the sun can bring it no closer to the Earth's surface than 3.2 Earth radii on February 15, 2013, MSNBC quoted researchers with the Near-Earth Object Program Office, at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The researchers wrote the information in an update on March. 6.

Asteroid 2012 DA14 makes some relatively close approaches to Earth twice per orbit, according to MSNBC.

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