162 asteroids were detected passing closer to Earth than the Moon

June 30 is celebrated every year as "World Asteroid Day", following a decision taken by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in December 2016 to raise public awareness about the steps to be taken in the event of an asteroid impact.

According to NASA's June 2025 data, a total of 38,478 near-Earth asteroids have been detected to date, 873 of which are larger than 1 kilometer and 11,294 are larger than 141 meters.

According to these data, as of June 2, the number of asteroids passing closer to the Earth than the Moon in the last 365 days has increased to 162, while the number of asteroid observations presented has reached almost 500 million.

NASA discovers 30 to 50 new asteroids every week. There are currently no large asteroids headed toward Earth, but it warns that this could change. Experts note that only about 40 percent of potentially hazardous asteroids have been identified.

"2024 YR4" could hit the Moon

In a statement made by ESA on June 17, 2025, it was reported that the asteroid named "2024 YR4" has a 4.3 percent chance of hitting the Moon in 2032.

Shortly after the asteroid's discovery on December 27, 2024, at the Asteroid Terrestrial Impact Last Warning System (ATLAS) telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, automated warning systems determined that it had a low probability of hitting Earth on December 22, 2032.

The latest image of "2024 YR4," which has a diameter of between 53 and 67 meters, revealed that the asteroid has a 4 percent chance of hitting the Moon on December 22, 2032.

However, since the asteroid is too far away to be studied further, this possibility will remain unchanged until it appears again in June 2028.

Eyes turn to infrared technology and simulations in asteroid exploration

ESA announced that they will be able to track asteroids more quickly and precisely with the Flyeye telescope, which went into use for the first time on 20-21 May.

NASA's next-generation infrared telescope, called "NEO Surveyor," which it plans to launch in September 2027, was developed to detect objects over 140 meters earlier.

In addition, NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) in 2022 achieved a historic success in "impact prevention" by successfully changing the orbit of an asteroid. The Hera spacecraft, developed by ESA to evaluate this success, was launched in October 2024 and began to closely examine the asteroid system targeted by DART.

Brightest asteroids of 2025

The asteroid fragment, observed on June 26 in the US states of Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia, exploded with a large explosion after entering the atmosphere during the daytime. Bill Cooke, director of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, estimated that its power was equivalent to about 20 tons of TNT, while the explosion caused buildings to shake in some areas and damaged a house.

An asteroid of approximately 1 meter in size entered the atmosphere in and around Van at the end of December 2024. The moment the meteor, which emitted intense light in the sky at night, entered the atmosphere was widely covered on social media.

Tracked by NASA and international astronomical observation teams, "2025 EW1" came closest to Earth on March 6. Coming within 820 thousand kilometers of Earth, the asteroid provided an important observation opportunity for astronomers and provided researchers with important data for the development of early warning systems against possible future dangers.

On May 21, "2025 DT2", with a diameter of approximately 37 meters, passed within 115 thousand kilometers of the Earth.