Asteroid 2008 DG5 to fly past Earth at 9.1 lunar distances on June 5
A large asteroid designated 2008 DG5 will fly past Earth at a distance of 9.1 LD (0.023 AU; 3.4 million km / 2.1 million miles) at 23:57 UTC on June 5, 2025. This will be its closest approach to Earth between 1956 and 2125.
Asteroid 2008 DG5 close approach on June 5, 2025. Credit: CNEOS
2028 DG5 belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids and has an estimated diameter between 300 and 700 m (984 to 2 297 feet). It was discovered at the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) in Arizona on February 28, 2008.
This object is classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) due to its large size and its minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) with Earth.
An asteroid is designated as potentially hazardous if it has an absolute magnitude (H) of 22.0 or brighter and comes within 0.05 astronomical units (7.4 million km/4.6 million miles) of Earth’s orbit.
“The large asteroid passes Earth 15 times between 1956 and 2125. The approach in June 2025 will be the closest of them all. However, at over nine times as far away as the Moon, even this pass is no cause for concern,” Juan Louis Cano of ESA’s Planetary Defence Office said.
Its next approach to our planet will take place on September 18, 2032, at a distance of 0.099 AU.
I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.
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