Asteroid 2025 US6 will fly past Earth at 0.42 LD on December 2, 2025
Asteroid 2025 US6, a near-Earth object from the Aten group, will fly past Earth at a nominal distance of 0.42 lunar distances (LD) / 0.00107 astronomical units (AU), corresponding to approximately 159 491 km (99 130 miles), at 06:40 UTC on December 2, 2025. The asteroid will have a relative velocity of 1.89 km/s at the time of closest approach.
Based on its absolute magnitude (H) of 31.008, asteroid 2025 US6 is estimated to be between approximately 2 to 7 m (6.6 to 23 feet) in diameter. This makes it a small object by near-Earth asteroid standards.
Asteroid 2025 US6 is classified as an Aten-type asteroid, indicating its semi-major axis (a = 0.961 AU) is less than that of Earth’s, and it remains predominantly inside Earth’s orbit. It exhibits a low orbital eccentricity (e = 0.0265), a perihelion distance (q) of 0.935 AU, and an extremely low orbital inclination (i = 0.0287 degrees) relative to the ecliptic plane, making its orbit nearly coplanar with Earth’s. Its sidereal orbital period is 344 days.
No albedo or direct compositional data are available, but with H = 31.008 and no PHA (potentially hazardous asteroid) classification, 2025 US6 is not considered potentially hazardous by current conventions.
2025 US6 was first observed on October 26, 2025, and the most recent observation was on the same day, indicating a short 1-day observation arc. The orbit solution currently carries a condition code of 6, suggesting the trajectory is uncertain or preliminary and could be refined as new data become available.
Other recent close approaches within 1 lunar distance include asteroid 2025 UV6, which passed Earth at 0.53 LD (81 673 km / 50 778 miles) at 20:04 UTC on October 25, 2025, with an estimated diameter based on magnitude suggesting a range of several meters. Asteroid 2025 US5 flew by at 0.61 LD (93 874 km / 58 321 miles) at 11:08 UTC on October 25, 2025, and asteroid 2025 UG6 passed at 0.36 LD (55 580 km / 34 547 miles) on October 23, 2025. These events reinforce the frequency of small near-Earth objects passing within close proximity to our planet.