Skyscraper-Sized Asteroid to Make Close Pass by Earth Early Thursday

by Emmitt Barry, with reporting from Washington D.C. Bureau Staff

(Worthy News) – A massive asteroid nearly the size of a New York skyscraper will make a close pass by Earth in the early hours of Thursday, September 18, according to NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).

The asteroid, officially designated 2025 FA22, measures between 427 and 951 feet across–comparable to the Chrysler Building–and will race past the planet at more than 24,000 miles per hour. At its closest point, it will come within 520,000 miles of Earth at about 3:40 a.m. ET, roughly twice the distance to the moon.

No Immediate Threat

Although initial observations raised concern that 2025 FA22 could pose a danger in future flybys, updated measurements have ruled out a collision. ESA has now removed the asteroid from its watchlist of potential threats.

“Impacts on this scale are rare, but the consequences would be catastrophic,” ESA scientists noted, while emphasizing that the asteroid poses no immediate threat.

The rock is expected to make similar close approaches again in 2089 and 2173. In the latter instance, it could come as close as 200,000 miles from Earth.

A City-Killer in the Sky

If 2025 FA22 were to strike Earth, astronomers warn the results could be devastating. A direct hit on land could flatten a city and surrounding areas, triggering massive fires and earthquakes. An ocean impact could set off tsunamis and eject enough dust into the atmosphere to disrupt global weather patterns and agriculture.

A Rare Observation Opportunity

First detected in March with the Pan-STARRS 2 telescope in Hawaii, the asteroid’s current approach provides a valuable opportunity for scientists to study a skyscraper-sized object up close.

Though invisible to the naked eye, amateur stargazers with strong telescopes or high-powered binoculars may catch a glimpse of 2025 FA22 as a faint, moving dot against the stars during its closest approach.

NASA estimates there are more than 1.3 million asteroids in the solar system, with over 30,000 classified as near-Earth objects. Any object larger than 492 feet that comes within 4.6 million miles of Earth earns the “potentially hazardous” label.

For perspective, scientists note that 2025 FA22, traveling at 24,000 mph, could cross the entire continental United States in under 15 minutes.

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