Tiny asteroid 2025 RJ2 makes close flyby of moon and Earth

Tiny asteroid to make a flyby of Earth and the moon

Asteroid 2025 RJ2 is a small near-Earth object currently zipping past Earth and the moon. This space rock is just 12 feet (4 meters) in size. The Pan-STARRS 1 telescope on Haleakala spotted the nearby asteroid for the first time on September 2, 2025. The tiny space rock will make a close approach to Earth on September 15, 2025, at a distance of about 187,000 miles (301,000 km). But it will make an even closer approach to the moon, at a distance of about 8,000 miles (13,000 km).

To put these distances in perspective, the average distance from Earth to the moon – a Lunar Distance (LD) – is about 238,000 miles (384,000 km). So the closest point the asteroid gets to Earth is about ¾ of the distance to the moon. But the closest the asteroid gets to the moon is about 1/30 of a Lunar Distance.

Asteroid 2025 RJ2 will make its closest approach to the moon on September 16, 2025, at about 8:00 UTC (3 a.m. CDT). Its closest approach to Earth is on September 15 just after 20 UTC (3 p.m. CDT).

Because 2025 RJ2 is so small, its risk to Earth and the moon is negligible. Such small asteroids routinely make flybys. In fact, some occasionally do hit Earth, with not much more than a brief light show and a few scattered rocks on the ground.

Tomorrow, newly-discovered #asteroid 2025 RJ2 will miss the Moon by 13,000 km. Shortly before close approach, it will pass through the Moon's shadow.

— Tony Dunn (@tony873004.bsky.social) 2025-09-15T19:00:44.892Z

Other asteroids near the moon

Another asteroid that will make a close pass by the moon, and possibly hit the moon, is 2024 YR4. Astronomers are waiting for that asteroid to come back into view so they can make more observations of its orbit and refine just where it will go. The possible strike date is not until December 22, 2032. Asteroid 2024 YR4 is about 196 feet (60 meters) in diameter.

And there’s yet another asteroid that will make a close brush past the moon. Asteroid 2000 SG344 is somewhere between 125 and 200 feet (39 and 61 meters) wide and will come within about 9,300 miles (15,000 km) of the moon on May 4, 2069.

Bottom line: A tiny asteroid will make a close pass by Earth and an even closer pass by the moon on Monday and Tuesday.

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