The closest asteroid yet to zip past Earth occurred last weekend. The record-breaking flyby saw the space boulder pass just 2,950 kilometers (1,830 miles) above the surface of the Southern Indian Ocean.

The object, called 2020 QG, was between 3 and 6 meters (10 to 20 feet) wide. It was observed by the Zwicky Transient Facility on August 16 at 12:08am EDT. By asteroid standards, 2020 QG is small but not uncommon. Some researchers estimate there are hundreds of millions of these rocks in the solar system whose orbit takes them close to our planet. They are classified as near-Earth objects, and while some are dangerous, the ones the size of 2020QG will likely burn up in Earth's atmosphere.

"It's really cool to see a small asteroid come by this close, because we can see the Earth's gravity dramatically bend its trajectory," Paul Chodas, director of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a statement. "Our calculations show that this asteroid got turned by 45 degrees or so as it swung by our planet."

Asteroids the size of 2020 QG rarely get this close to our planet. Given their relatively small size, it's difficult to spot them with current instruments. Asteroid 020 QG was discovered six hours after its closest passage.

"It's quite an accomplishment to find these tiny close-in asteroids in the first place, because they pass by so fast," Chodas said. "There's typically only a short window of a couple of days before or after close approach when this small of an asteroid is close enough to Earth to be bright enough but not so close that it moves too fast in the sky to be detected by a telescope."

Since 2005, NASA has made it its goal to characterize 95 percent of all the asteroids and comets that pose a threat to Earth, mainly those larger than 140 meters (460 feet) wide. One of NASA's observatories, NEOWISE, has estimated the possibility of up to 6,200 objects larger than 100 meters (330 feet). Of those, over 2,000 are known.

All near-Earth asteroids that could cause an “extinction-level event” are believed to be known, but those that are large enough to not burn completely in the atmosphere could cause widespread damage. Researchers say we are still woefully unprepared when it comes to dangerous cosmic objects and more investment in asteroid observations is necessary.