Asteroid the size of a 10-story building whizzes by dangerously close to Earth

While a large portion of the U.S. comfortably slept on Monday morning, an asteroid the size of a 10-story building passed by alarmingly close to the Earth.

The asteroid in question, dubbed 2017 AG13, is estimated to be between 50 and 111 feet wide and was traveling at a brisk 9.9 miles per second when it whizzed past us, according to Slooh, a company that broadcasts live views of space.

At its nearest proximity to Earth, the space rock was about half the distance away from Earth that the moon is -- approximately 126,461 miles.

If that doesn't sound scarily close to you, Slooh made a helpful graphic to show just how close the January 9 encounter truly was.

Even worse, the space rock soared past our planet a mere two days after scientists at the University of Arizona's Catalina Sky Survey first discovered it -- which doesn't seem like enough time to prepare for a catastrophic collision.

Luckily for us, this isn't our first experience with such an asteroid.

Business Insider reported that 2017 AG13 was "roughly the same size as the asteroid that struck Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013," the aftermath of which only included blown-out windows and damaged buildings.

It is speculated that on-the-ground effects may have been similarly minor if 2017 AG13 were to have struck us.

(h/t Business Insider)