Dubai, United Arab Emirates – On Wednesday, October 1, 2025, planet Earth witnessed the passage of a small asteroid called 2025 TF at a very close distance, estimated at 428 kilometers (266 miles) over Antarctica.
This is a distance roughly parallel to the orbit of the International Space Station.
This marks the second closest known passage of an asteroid to Earth without impact.
According to New Atlas, citing data from the International Astronomical Union and the Minor Planet Center, the asteroid passed “at 00:47:26 UTC.
At a moment when it almost touched the atmosphere.
But it was not discovered until it passed Earth.
The report explained that “the asteroid was not discovered until it had already left.
It was first observed at the Kitt Peak-Bock Observatory in Arizona at 06:36 UTC.
It later turned out that it appeared in Catalina’s celestial survey data only two hours after the closest point it passed.
Despite its close proximity, asteroid 2025 TF did not pose a real threat.
Its size is estimated to be only between 1 and 3 meters.
Writer Michael Irving commented in his report: “Even if it hit the ground, there was nothing to worry about… At most, he would have put on a beautiful light show, perhaps leaving a small meteorite for a penguin to find.
This close pass places 2025 TF as the second closest asteroid to Earth.
After asteroid 2020 VT4, which approached a distance of 368 kilometers in November 2020.
On the other hand, future estimates indicate that the asteroid may return to Earth in 2087.
But this time from a safer distance, estimated at 8 million kilometers, about 21 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon.
