NASA tracks a newly discovered asteroid that may strike Earth in 2046

The 2023DW asteroid is currently at a distance of about 18 million km away from Earth

An asteroid the size of an Olympic swimming pool can strike Earth in 2046, according to an estimate by the European Space Agency.

The asteroid has a 1 in 625 chance of striking Earth, based on data projections from the European Space Agency, though NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Sentry system calculated the odds closer to 1 in 560. The latter tracks potential collisions with celestial objects.

Scientists, including those from the European Space Agency’s Near Earth Objects Coordination Center, are still estimating the space rock’s size, shape and orbital characteristics to determine if it is a real threat.

It is currently estimated to be about the size of an Olympic swimming pool and is at a distance of 0.12 astronomical units (AU), or about 18 million km (over 11 million miles) from Earth.

“We’ve been tracking a new asteroid named 2023 DW that has a very small chance of impacting Earth in 2046,” Nasa’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office tweeted on Wednesday.

The asteroid, measuring about 50m in diameter, may not strike a blow to the planet as big as the space rock that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, which was several miles in diameter.

However in comparison, the space rock that struck Chelyabinsk Oblast in Russia in 2013 was about 18m in size and its air burst led to extensive ground damage, including damage to buildings and multiple injuries.

Nasa and several international organisations working on planetary defense have been working on ways to protect the planet from possible collisions with space rocks.

SOURCE

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