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Sneaky Asteroid Zooms Past Antarctica Closer than a Satellite — and Astronomers Didn't Catch It Until Hours After
Asteroid 2025 TF passed about 265 miles above Antarctica, making the second-closest Earth flyby on record and was detected only after it passed, ESA said.
- On Oct. 1, Asteroid 2025 TF flew roughly 266 miles above Antarctica, marking the second-closest asteroid flyby on record, the European Space Agency said.
- Because astronomers didn’t see it before the pass, the Catalina Sky Survey, a NASA-funded project at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Lab, first spotted Asteroid 2025 TF, and European astronomers observed it with the Las Cumbres Observatory telescope in Siding Spring, Australia.
- Officials assessed a low risk level as the European Space Agency said Asteroid 2025 TF posed no significant danger and likely would have burned up as a bright fireball.
- NASA says the object is not expected to fly by Earth again until April 2087, and the Minor Planet Center reported asteroid 2025 TQ2 flew nearby the day after asteroid 2025 TF's approach.
- Given recent weeks' activity, NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies notes 2025 TF falls below hazard size limits, while past close passes like Asteroid 2020 VT4 highlight ongoing monitoring.
23 Articles
23 Articles
Asteroid just flew closer to Earth than many satellites, space agencies say
In this screen grab from a video, the orbit of 2025 TF is shown close to Earth’s orbit. (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory) (NEW YORK) — An asteroid just flew closer to Earth than many satellites, according to space agencies. The space object, named 2025 TF, zoomed over Antarctica at a distance of just 265 miles above the Earth’s surface last Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 8:47 p.m. ET, the European Space Agency said on Monday. The International Space Stati…
There was no danger, but it is worth pointing out and the European Space Agency has done so the close passage of an asteroid that was discovered only a few hours after its passage so close to the Earth. The small asteroid 2025 TF that last October 1 passed over the Antarctic by rubbing at the same altitude in which it usually orbits the International Space Station. Luckily the cosmic rock (with a diameter of 1-3 meters) did not cross any spacecr…
Asteroid Made One of the Closest Approaches Ever Recorded
(Paris) – According to the European Space Agency, an asteroid just buzzed by Earth — roughly 266 above the planet’s surface — marking the second-closest approach ever recorded. Named “Asteroid 2025 TF” — the interplanetary object soared high above Antarctica — around 9:00 PM Tuesday, October 1. The ESA wrote a message on X: “This is a similar altitude to the orbit of the International Space Station, and one of the closest approaches ever recorde…
Sneaky asteroid zooms past Antarctica closer than a satellite — and astronomers didn't catch it until hours after
A small, giraffe-size asteroid called 2025 TF came closer to Earth than some satellites on Wednesday (Oct. 1), stunning astronomers who first spotted it hours later.
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