World News | October 7, 2025
An asteroid has made one of the closest flybys ever recorded, soaring past Earth at an altitude similar to that of the International Space Station, the European Space Agency (ESA) confirmed on Monday.
The object, officially named Asteroid 2025 TF, was observed streaking over Antarctica just before 9 p.m. last Tuesday, passing approximately 266 miles (428 kilometers) above Earth’s surface — the second-closest approach to our planet ever recorded.
According to astronomers, the asteroid measured between 3 and 10 feet in diameter and was initially detected by the Catalina Sky Survey at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.
“Objects of this size pose no significant danger,” ESA said in a statement. “They can produce fireballs if they strike Earth’s atmosphere and may result in small meteorites reaching the ground.”
Following its discovery, scientists at ESA’s Planetary Defence Office successfully tracked the asteroid using the Las Cumbres Observatory telescope in Siding Spring, Australia. This allowed experts to calculate the exact trajectory and timing of the near miss with exceptional precision.
“Tracking down a metre-scale object in the vast darkness of space when its position is still uncertain is an impressive feat,” ESA added.
The near miss recalls Asteroid 2020 VT4, which passed just 230 miles (370 kilometers) from Earth in November 2020 near French Polynesia — a record-breaking close encounter that still stands as the nearest non-impacting asteroid ever observed.
Astronomers emphasized that while Asteroid 2025 TF posed no threat to the planet, the event underscores the importance of continued global monitoring for near-Earth objects.