An Asteroid Just Flew by Dangerously Close to Earth — And Experts Detected It Hours Later
Quite often, several objects from space, including asteroids, meteoroids, and space debris, pass near our planet, but only a few come to our notice. While most of them are small and disappear in the atmosphere, some of them come alarmingly close to our planet. While scientists keep a constant watch on these objects to assess any kind of risks, occasionally they still surprise us. For instance, astronomers have recently reported that a rock from outer space came within just 270 miles of colliding with Earth, and it was only detected afterward. This incident took place on Wednesday, October 1.
The asteroid, now named 2025 TF, flew over Antarctica on October 1, at exactly 00:47:26 UTC. This incident was more surprising as it passed at an altitude of just 428 kilometers or 266 miles. This falls within the orbit of the International Space Station, which ranges between 370 and 460 kilometers, as reported by Science Alert. While this was an extremely close encounter, it isn’t the closest one, as that position is held by 2020 VT4. It was a space rock that passed at only 368 kilometers or 228 miles from Earth in November 2020. This places 2025 TF as the second-closest asteroid flyby ever recorded.
It has also been reported that the close approach of 2025 TF was only noticed hours later when the Catalina Sky Survey detected it. Although such a near pass may seem a little scary, the European Space Agency (ESA) confirmed there was no real threat. After looking at the size of the asteroid, experts claimed that it would have almost certainly disintegrated or exploded in Earth’s atmosphere rather than striking the ground, as reported by the Daily Mail. In their official statement, ESA stated, “Objects of this size pose no significant danger. They can produce fireballs if they strike Earth’s atmosphere, which may result in the discovery of small meteorites on the ground.”
They added, “Tracking down a meter-scale object in the vast darkness of space at a time when its location is still uncertain is an impressive feat. This observation helped astronomers determine the close approach distance and time given above to such high precision.” Even though this asteroid wouldn’t have posed a major threat to Earth, it could have seriously damaged a spacecraft. Fortunately, at the time of its close pass, there were no satellites or spacecraft in its way, avoiding any potential collisions.
While the 2025 TF is now gone, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory projects that the asteroid will return near Earth in April 2087. But unlike its near-miss this year, it will stay well clear from our planet, passing at a safe distance of roughly 8 million kilometers or 4.9 million miles. Meanwhile, every year, astronomers detect thousands of objects classified as near-Earth asteroids (NEAs). These can be small and harmless rocks like 2025 TF, or massive ones such as the asteroid 99942 Apophis. As per the official records, until October 4, scientists had identified 39,585 NEAs in total. Although researchers can spot nearly all massive, life-threatening asteroids in advance, smaller yet still dangerous ones can sometimes go unnoticed despite being very close.
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