Scientists continue their work without slowing down to discover asteroids that are likely to hit our planet. A recent discovery shows that a newly discovered asteroid may hit Earth on Valentine’s Day (February 14) 2046.
This discovered object is named ‘2023DW’. The Near Earth Objects Coordination Center of the European Space Agency (ESA) has also added this asteroid to its risk list due to the possibility of hitting our planet.
The probability of the asteroid hitting the Earth is very low
The reason for the 2023DW being added to the risk list is the possibility of hitting our planet in 2046. However, it should be noted that this probability is quite low. Experts say the asteroid has a 1 in 625 chance of impacting our planet. Although this rate is quite low, the researchers state that it can still be considered as a high risk of collision.
Let’s also take a look at the dimensions of the newly discovered asteroid and what effect it might have if it hits. According to the ESA, the 2023DW is 50 meters in diameter. This turns out to be as big as an Olympic pool. If an asteroid of this size hits our planet, it could cause significant damage, albeit not very large, depending on the region.
There is very little information about the 2023DW at this time.
But we know very little about the new object. Researchers state that even the size of the asteroid has not yet been precisely measured. Also, there is no exact information about what shape the 2023DW will take.
Scientists will try to learn more about the 2023DW by performing calculations and observations over the coming weeks. As a result, issues such as the exact size of the asteroid and the possibility of hitting the Earth will be examined in more detail. With better orbital calculations, we can also see the probability of passing close to our planet rather than hitting it.
You can access the risk list created by ESA on celestial bodies here. You can also view 2023DW through NASA’s ‘Eyes On Asteroids’ site, which lets you study asteroids in 3D.
NASA had recently taken the first step to protect itself from possible asteroid disasters.
Although the probability of this asteroid hitting is very low, NASA has taken a step in the past months to protect our planet from such scenarios. As part of this project, called DART, a spacecraft crashed into an asteroid millions of kilometers away.
56360
