Asteroid 2025 TF Briefly Skims Earth as Antarctic Ice Core Reveals 1.2-Million-Year Climate Record

On October 1, 2025, at 00:47 UTC, a small asteroid designated 2025 TF passed approximately 428 kilometers (266 miles) above Antarctica, a distance within the orbital range of the International Space Station. Measuring between 1.2 to 2.7 meters (4 to 8.8 feet) in diameter, the asteroid was detected by the Catalina Sky Survey only a few hours after its closest approach. While objects of this size are not considered hazardous, this event underscores the challenges in detecting small near-Earth objects before they make close passes.

In a separate scientific milestone, researchers from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) completed the analysis of a 190-meter-long ice sample from the bottom of a 2,800-meter ice core retrieved from Little Dome C in East Antarctica. This analysis revealed an unbroken sequence of climate cycles stretching back at least 1.2 million years, providing the oldest continuous ice core record ever recovered. The data offers invaluable insights into Earth's climate history and atmospheric composition over an extended period.

These two events highlight Antarctica's pivotal role in advancing our understanding of both space phenomena and Earth's climatic past.

Asteroid 2025 TF's Close Approach to Earth

On October 1, 2025, at 00:47 UTC, a small asteroid designated 2025 TF passed extremely close to Earth, flying approximately 428 kilometers (266 miles) above Antarctica—within the orbital range of the International Space Station (ISS). The asteroid, measuring between 1.2 to 2.7 meters (4 to 8.8 feet) in diameter, was detected by the Catalina Sky Survey only a few hours after its closest approach.

Detection and Tracking

The Catalina Sky Survey, a NASA-funded project aimed at discovering and tracking near-Earth objects (NEOs), first spotted 2025 TF after its close pass. Subsequent observations were made by astronomers at the European Space Agency's (ESA) Planetary Defence Office, utilizing the Las Cumbres Observatory in Siding Spring, Australia.

Implications for Planetary Defense

While objects of this size are not considered hazardous—since they would likely disintegrate upon entering Earth's atmosphere—this event underscores the challenges in detecting small NEOs before they make close passes. The late detection of 2025 TF highlights the need for improved monitoring systems to identify and track smaller asteroids that could pose risks to Earth or its orbital infrastructure.

Historical Context

This event marks the second-closest known flyby of an asteroid, following 2020 VT4, which passed approximately 368 kilometers (229 miles) above the Pacific Ocean in November 2020. Both asteroids were detected only after their closest approaches, emphasizing the difficulties in early detection of small, fast-moving objects.

Antarctica's Role in Scientific Research

In a separate scientific milestone, researchers from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) completed the analysis of a 190-meter-long ice sample from the bottom of a 2,800-meter ice core retrieved from Little Dome C in East Antarctica. This analysis revealed an unbroken sequence of climate cycles stretching back at least 1.2 million years, providing the oldest continuous ice core record ever recovered. The data offers invaluable insights into Earth's climate history and atmospheric composition over an extended period.

These events highlight Antarctica's pivotal role in advancing our understanding of both space phenomena and Earth's climatic history.