NASA has confirmed that asteroid 2025 OW, about 220 feet wide—“roughly the size of an airplane”—will safely pass Earth on Monday, July 28. It will be traveling at 46,908 mph and come within 390,000 miles of our planet, about 1.6 times the distance to the Moon.
Experts stress there’s no danger. “This is very routine,” said Ian O’Neill from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “If there was a threat, you’d hear from us.”
Davide Farnocchia from NASA’s Near-Earth Object Studies division added, “It’s just part of the fabric of the solar system.” His team monitors many such objects weekly. NASA has tracked 2025 OW’s orbit and predicts no risk for at least the next 100 years.
The asteroid won’t be visible to the public due to its distance and size, even with binoculars or small telescopes.
A more notable event will happen in April 2029, when asteroid Apophis will pass just 20,000 miles from Earth—closer than some satellites. Once considered dangerous, it’s now known to pose no threat for the next century.
NASA continues tracking near-Earth objects—asteroids and comets that come within 120 million miles of the Sun—to improve future predictions.