Particle.news
Download on the App Store
12 ARTICLES
·
yesterday

Tiny Asteroid 2025 TF Skims Earth at ISS Altitude in One of Closest Recorded Flybys

The rock was identified only hours after the pass, highlighting how meter-scale near‑Earth objects are often found post‑encounter.

The Second Closest Asteroid Flyby Of Earth Ever Recorded Just Whizzed Over Antarctica
Image
Image
Image

Overview

  • ESA confirms 2025 TF passed over Antarctica at roughly 265 miles (428 km) on Sept. 30/Oct. 1, ranking among the closest non‑impacting approaches ever recorded.
  • The Catalina Sky Survey detected the object a few hours after closest approach, with ESA’s Planetary Defence Office and Las Cumbres Observatory follow‑ups refining the timing and distance.
  • JPL/CNEOS lists an orbital period near 2.06 years and projects the next, far more distant return in April 2087.
  • Estimated at 1–3 meters across, 2025 TF posed no significant threat and would likely have produced a fireball and small meteorites if it had entered the atmosphere; it is far below potentially hazardous thresholds.
  • A separate small asteroid, 2025 TQ2, passed about 3,014 miles (4,851 km) over northern Canada on Oct. 2 after late detection, focusing attention on detection gaps as NASA public statements were limited during a government shutdown.