A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2022 AU flew past Earth at a distance of 0.83 LD / 0.00213 AU (318 643 km / 197 995 miles) at 03:03 UTC on January 2, 2022. This is the second known asteroid to fly past Earth within 1 lunar distance since the start of the year and the first 1 LD asteroid discovered this year.
In 2021, a total of 145 asteroids flew past Earth within 1 lunar distance.
Asteroid 2022 AU belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids.
It was first observed at Mt. Lemmon Survey, Arizona on January 5, three days after it made its close approach to Earth.
The asteroid has an estimated diameter between 4.3 and 9.6 m (14.1 - 31.5 feet).
