Close Encounter with Asteroid 2025 QD8
An asteroid comparable in size to a commercial airplane will make a close pass to Earth on Wednesday, September 3. Known as Asteroid 2025 QD8, it poses no threat to our planet; however, this temporary proximity provides both scientists and the public with a unique chance to observe an asteroid up close.
Live Streaming Details
The Virtual Telescope Project 2.0 will livestream the asteroid’s flyby starting at 7:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, September 2. This initiative, managed by the Bellatrix Astronomical Observatory in Italy, utilizes remotely operated telescopes to offer real-time views of celestial events.
Details of the Flyby
According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), 2025 QD8 will come within approximately 136,000 miles (218,000 kilometers) of Earth at 10:57 a.m. ET on Wednesday. To put this into perspective, that distance is about 57% of the average space between Earth and the Moon. The asteroid measures roughly 71 feet (22 meters) in diameter and will travel at a speed of 28,000 miles per hour (45,000 kilometers per hour) relative to our planet.
On Monday, project founder and director Gianluca Masi captured a 120-second exposure of 2025 QD8 using the 17-inch “Elana” telescope. At that time, it was 1.2 million miles (1.9 million kilometers) away from Earth, appearing as a small dot among the brighter stars visible through the telescope.
Future Approaches
As reported by the European Space Agency’s Near-Earth Objects Coordination Center, 2025 QD8 will have several additional close encounters with Earth over the next century, with this week’s flyby being the closest on record through the year 2121. The asteroid is not expected to return until 2038.
The Importance of Studying Near-Earth Asteroids
This asteroid is part of a larger group of nearly 40,000 near-Earth asteroids identified and cataloged by NASA since 1980. These objects have orbits that bring them within 120 million miles (195 million kilometers) of the Sun, placing them in proximity to Earth’s orbital path, as noted by JPL.
The study of these near-Earth asteroids is vital for planetary defense, enabling astronomers to detect and prepare for potential dangers to our planet. The Center for Near-Earth Object Studies is tasked with analyzing the orbits of these asteroids, predicting their close encounters with Earth, and conducting thorough impact hazard assessments for NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office.
While most near-Earth objects do not approach closely enough to pose any threat, around two thousand have been classified as potentially hazardous. However, 2025 QD8 does not fall into this category due to its size, and it will not come close enough to cause concern in the next century. Monitoring relatively harmless near-Earth objects like this one is crucial for refining detection methods and studying the physical characteristics of these ancient remnants of the Solar System, offering valuable insights into the formation of the Sun, planets, and other celestial bodies.
