{"id":40202,"date":"2025-09-03T05:38:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T05:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/40202\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T05:38:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T05:38:09","slug":"newly-discovered-bus-size-asteroid-will-zoom-close-past-earth-tomorrow-and-will-not-return-for-exactly-100-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/40202\/","title":{"rendered":"Newly discovered bus-size asteroid will zoom close past Earth tomorrow \u2014 and will not return for exactly 100 years"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\" An artist's illustration of an asteroid flying past Earth and the moon. \" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/69893f792ee77a797a119195ff96146e.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Asteroid 2025 QV5 was first spotted on Aug. 24. It will reach its minimum distance to us on Sept. 3 and will not return at such close proximity for precisely 100 years. | Credit: JUAN GARTNER via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A bus-size <a href=\"https:\/\/www.livescience.com\/space\/astronomy\/asteroids\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:asteroid;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">asteroid<\/a>, first spotted just over a week ago, will zoom past Earth tomorrow (Sept. 3). The space rock will not get this close to us again until Sept. 4, 2125 \u2014 almost 100 years to the day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The asteroid, dubbed 2025 QV5, was first spotted on Aug. 24. It is approximately 35 feet (11 meters) across, or around the same width as a school bus is long, and is hurtling toward us at more than 13,900 mph (22,400 km\/h), according to NASA&#8217;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jpl.nasa.gov\/asteroid-watch\/next-five-approaches\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Asteroid Watch;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Asteroid Watch<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The space rock will make a close approach to Earth on Wednesday, passing within 500,000 miles (805,000 kilometers) of our planet \u2014 or around twice as far away from us as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/moon-news-features-articles-170026689.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:the moon;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the moon<\/a>, according to JPL&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/ssd.jpl.nasa.gov\/tools\/sbdb_lookup.html#\/?sstr=2025%20QV5&amp;view=VOPC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Small-Body Database Lookup;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Small-Body Database Lookup<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">2025 QV5 has a roughly circular orbit around <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/sun-news-features-articles-170028383.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:the sun;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">the sun<\/a>, circling our home star every 359.4 days. During this time, it drifts between the orbits of Earth and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.livescience.com\/space\/astronomy\/planets\/venus\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Venus;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Venus<\/a> as it is subtly pulled from side to side between the two planets. As a result, it is unlikely to ever hit us. And even if it did, it is too small to be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/potentially-hazardous-asteroids-110000999.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:considered &quot;potentially hazardous&quot;;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">considered &#8220;potentially hazardous&#8221;<\/a> and most of its material would likely burn up in the atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Nevertheless, scientists are still keen to learn as much as they can about the space rock, and it has been <a href=\"https:\/\/echo.jpl.nasa.gov\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:listed as a target;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">listed as a target<\/a> for NASA&#8217;s Goldstone radar telescope in Barstow, California \u2014 which specializes in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/nasa-reveals-images-enormous-snowman-194203780.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:tracking and imaging near-Earth asteroids;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">tracking and imaging near-Earth asteroids<\/a> \u2014 over the coming days.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>Related: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/nasas-most-wanted-5-most-133000174.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:NASA&#039;s most wanted: The 5 most dangerous asteroids to Earth;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>NASA&#8217;s most wanted: The 5 most dangerous asteroids to Earth<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"A diagram showing the orbital trajectory of 2025 QV5 compared to the sun, Earth and Mars.\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/d138f723b08796b4703094bb22befacc.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>2025 QV5&#8217;s orbit around the sun takes it close to Earth and Venus. For the majority of the next century, the asteroid will fly by the latter more often. | Credit: NASA\/JPL<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">2025 QV5 will make several more &#8220;close approaches&#8221; to Earth over the next century, including flybys in 2026 and 2027. However, these flybys will occur at much greater distances from our planet. Next year, for example, the asteroid will only come within 3.3 million miles (5.3 million km) of us and will be three times further away again when it passes by in 2027.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The next time that the space rock will get anywhere near this close again is on Sept. 4, 2125 \u2014 approximately 100 years, 1 day and 2 hours after its current flyby \u2014 when it will reach a distance of around 830,000 miles (1.3 million km) from Earth, according to current calculations from the Small-Body Database Lookup.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">RELATED STORIES<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/articles\/james-webb-telescope-reveals-asteroids-212848338.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:James Webb telescope reveals that asteroids Bennu and Ryugu may be parts of the same gigantic space rock;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">James Webb telescope reveals that asteroids Bennu and Ryugu may be parts of the same gigantic space rock<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/city-killer-asteroid-2024-yr4-161954162.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:&#039;City killer&#039; asteroid 2024 YR4 could shower Earth with &#039;bullet-like&#039; meteors if it hits the moon in 2032;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">&#8216;City killer&#8217; asteroid 2024 YR4 could shower Earth with &#8216;bullet-like&#8217; meteors if it hits the moon in 2032<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/no-nasa-hasnt-warned-impending-161212999.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:No, NASA hasn&#039;t warned of an impending asteroid strike in 2038. Here&#039;s what really happened.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">No, NASA hasn&#8217;t warned of an impending asteroid strike in 2038. Here&#8217;s what really happened.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">However, the future date and distance of this cosmic coincidence are not fixed in place.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">As researchers collect more data on the movements of 2025 QV5, they may refine a more accurate orbital trajectory for the object, which will change when it is likely to return. For example, the odds of the potential &#8220;city killer&#8221; asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting Earth in 2032, which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.livescience.com\/space\/asteroids\/city-killer-asteroid-has-a-1-in-83-chance-of-smashing-into-earth-in-2032-nasa-says\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:made headlines earlier this year;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">made headlines earlier this year<\/a>, frequently changed before <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/thats-zero-folks-asteroid-2024-155022665.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:eventually dropping to zero;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">eventually dropping to zero<\/a> as researchers collated more observations of the space rock.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Asteroids can also be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/earths-gravity-knocked-pyramid-size-170433281.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:knocked off course by gravitational interactions;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">knocked off course by gravitational interactions<\/a> with other objects, such as planets and larger space rocks. If 2025 QV5 were to drift past an undiscovered asteroid between Earth and Venus over the next 100 years, we may not even know it has been redirected until it fails to show up on its expected trajectory in the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Asteroid&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":40203,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[270],"tags":[30702,6599,18,19,17,1024,30704,133,451,30703],"class_list":{"0":"post-40202","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-close-proximity","9":"tag-earth","10":"tag-eire","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-nasa","14":"tag-qv5","15":"tag-science","16":"tag-space","17":"tag-space-rock"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}