A huge asteroid the size of the Leaning Tower of Pisa passed closer to Earth than even the moon this month and scientists didn’t notice it until two days later, according to a report in the Daily Mail.

An asteroid called 2023 NT1 came within about 62,000 miles of Earth, about a quarter of the distance between Earth and the Moon, on July 13.

But it wasn’t until two days after it approached Earth that NASA scientists spotted it, mainly because it was coming from the direction of the sun and was obscured by light. NASA usually keeps a close eye on asteroids that come close to our planet

Asteroid 2023 NT1, now hurtling away from Earth at about 25,000 miles per hour, is up to 200 feet in diameter, larger than the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

It is also larger than the 60-foot Chelyabinsk meteorite, which injured more than 1,600 people when it entered Earth’s atmosphere in 2013.

According to data from NASA and the International Astronomical Union, 2023 NT1 made its closest approach to Earth at 10:12 UTC (11:12 BST) on July 13.

The first reported sighting came two days later and was by ATLAS South Africa, a system of four telescopes dedicated to detecting hazardous asteroids.

At up to 60 meters wide, 2023 NT1 could be larger than the asteroid that caused Meteor Crater in Arizona, amateur astronomer Tony Dunn said on Twitter.

Despite its close approach, 2023 NT1 is not large enough to be considered “potentially dangerous”.

An asteroid is defined as “potentially hazardous” if it is within 0.05 AU (4.65 million miles) of Earth and has a diameter greater than 459 feet (140 meters). With a maximum height of 200 feet, the 2023 NT1 meets only one of these criteria.

Fortunately 2023 NT1 went off without a hitch, but the episode highlights that we have trouble spotting some asteroids due to the sun’s glare.