Context : Near-Earth asteroid 2012 DA _ { 14 } made its closest approach on February 15 , 2013 , when it passed at a distance of 27,700 km from the Earth ’ s surface .
It was the first time an asteroid of moderate size was predicted to approach that close to the Earth , becoming bright enough to permit a detailed study from ground-based telescopes .

Aims : Asteroid 2012 DA _ { 14 } was poorly characterized before its closest approach .
The main objective of this work was to obtain new and valuable data to better understand its physical properties , and to evaluate the effects of such a close approach on the object .

Methods : We acquired data using several telescopes on four Spanish observatories : the 10.4m Gran Telescopio Canarias ( GTC ) and the 3.6m Telescopio Nazionale Galileo ( TNG ) , both in the El Roque de los Muchachos Observatory ( ORM , La Palma ) ; the 2.2m CAHA telescope , in the Calar Alto Observatory ( Almería ) ; the f/3 0.77m telescope in the La Hita Observatory ( Toledo ) ; and the f/8 1.5m telescope in the Sierra Nevada Observatory ( OSN , Granada ) .
We obtained visible and near-infrared color photometry , visible spectra and time-series photometry .

Results : Visible spectra together with visible and near-infrared color photometry of 2012 DA _ { 14 } show that the object can be classified as an L-type asteroid , a rare spectral type among the asteroid population , with a composition similar to that of carbonaceous chondrites .
The time-series photometry provides a rotational period of 8.95 \pm 0.08 hours after the closest approach , and there are indications that the object suffered a spin-up during this event .
The large amplitude of the light curve suggests that the object is very elongated and irregular , with an equivalent diameter of around 18m .
We obtain an absolute magnitude of H _ { R } = 24.5 \pm 0.2 , corresponding to H _ { V } = 25.0 \pm 0.2 in V. The GTC photometry also gives H _ { V } = 25.29 \pm 0.14 .
Both values agree with the value listed at the Minor Planet Center ( MPC ) shortly after discovery , although H _ { V } is very sensitive to the slope parameter G used to correct for phase angle .
From the absolute photometry , together with some constraints on size and shape , we compute a geometric albedo of p _ { V } = 0.44 \pm 0.20 , which is slightly above the range of albedos known for L-type asteroids ( 0.082 - 0.405 ) .

Conclusions :