By Tass
Copyright tass
MOSCOW, September 18. /TASS/. Asteroid 2025 FA22, one of the largest this year, has passed near Earth and is currently receding from the planet, the solar astronomy laboratory of the Space Research Institute (IKI) of the Russian Academy of Sciences told TASS.
“Asteroid 2025 FA22 measuring 130 by 290 meters, listed as one of the most potentially dangerous celestial bodies for the planet, today at 10:41 Moscow time (7:41 a.m. GMT – TASS) successfully passed Earth and the Moon at a minimal calculated distance (about 800,000 kilometers) and is currently moving away from the planet,” the laboratory said in a statement.
Specialists specified that the asteroid’s next passage near Earth will take place in 11 years, on August 20, 2036, but at a much larger distance – 25 times more than the current one. Dangerously close encounters are expected in 2089 and particularly in 2173.
“At this time, even though the object is moving away from Earth, its luminance in the sky is rapidly increasing. This is due to the fact that the rock crossed Earth’s orbit from the internal side, that is, was moving away from the Sun and was constantly illuminated by it from behind, while now, on the orbit’s other side, it is fully illuminated. It will achieve the maximum brightness in the sky on September 20-21, when it will acquire the 15th stellar magnitude, which still makes it impossible to observe with the naked eye or with the most accessible amateur instruments, but will be visible with telescopes with an aperture of about 30 centimeters and more,” the laboratory said.
