Asteroid the size of a high-rise building missed Earth

Giant asteroid 2025 PM safely passed Earth on August 17, flying at a distance of one million kilometers. The information was confirmed by specialists from the Laboratory of Solar Astronomy of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

- Recent observations have allowed us to clarify the parameters of the cosmic visitor - its size turned out to be larger than expected and reaches 53 meters. At the same time, the trajectory of the asteroid remained unchanged, - scientists note. - Another exciting event awaits us ahead: in the second half of September, a close approach with asteroid 2025 FA22 is expected, whose dimensions are impressive - about 200 meters. This approach could become the most significant of the current year.

Notably, this potentially dangerous space object was discovered by astronomers only at the beginning of August. The asteroid belongs to the Apollo group - near-Earth objects whose orbits intersect Earth's from the outside. This cosmic wanderer completes a full orbit around the Sun in approximately two years.