NASA has just discovered an asteroid that has a very low chance of hitting Earth in a year 2046 has it. According to the calculations of the space agency, this asteroid, which is the size of an Olympic swimming pool, may be in Valentine Day hit the earth in 2046.
According to NASA, the chance of the asteroid, named 2023 DW, hitting Earth is about 1 in 560. According to a BBC report, it is the only space rock on NASA’s hazard list that has been rated #1 on the Torino Collision Hazard Scale. This scale, which has a rating from 0 to 10, measures the risk of space objects hitting the Earth. All other objects in this scale have a rating of 0, which indicates that there is no risk of collision.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) says a rating of 1 on this scale means the likelihood of an actual collision is extremely unlikely and there is no reason for public concern.
The possibility of an asteroid hitting the Earth
“This object is not as alarming as it should be,” said David Farnuccia, a navigation engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. NASA Asteroid Observatory He also mentioned this on Twitter and said:
“Often, when new objects are first discovered, it takes several weeks for uncertainty to subside and for their orbits to be predicted in the coming years.”
However, if the DW 2023 asteroid hits a large city or populated area, it could still cause significant damage. 10 years ago, a meteorite less than half the size of DW 2023 exploded over the city of Chelyabinsk, Russia, creating a shock wave that blew out glass windows 517 km away and also injured approximately 1,500 people.
While an asteroid collision seems unlikely, scientists have been preparing for such an event for years. Last October, NASA confirmed that the Dart mission had succeeded in altering the trajectory of a minor planet by slamming a spacecraft into it.
