A recently discovered asteroid has a 1-in-625 chance of smashing into Earth, NASA stated on Tuesday.
NASA is tracking the asteroid, named 2023 DW, noting that current estimates suggest it will smash into Earth on Valentine’s Day in 2046, according to the agency’s Near Earth Orbit website. It is a relatively new rock discovered by NASA, and therefore more time is needed to hone in on the various uncertainties of its orbit in coming years.
But we do know that 2023 DW is about the size of a swimming pool, at 165 feet in diameter, NASA noted on the asteroid’s official web page. The impact of the rock might not be quite as devastating as those that killed the dinosaurs or are potentially responsible for the Younger Dryas cataclysm, but could still be significant.
We’ve been tracking a new asteroid named 2023 DW that has a very small chance of impacting Earth in 2046. Often when new objects are first discovered, it takes several weeks of data to reduce the uncertainties and adequately predict their orbits years into the future. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/SaLC0AUSdP
— NASA Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) March 7, 2023
If 2023 DW were to either hit the Earth or cause an airburst over a populated region, it would cause a highly destructive shock wave, Live Science reported. . Scientists, aware of the major gaps in our planetary defense systems, are studying 2023 DW and a slew of other asteroids to develop means of mitigating the worst potential impacts. (RELATED: If The Largest Asteroid Near Earth Hit Us, Here’s What It Would Look Like)
In 2022, NASA and other international space agencies were able to successfully alter the trajectory of an asteroid. But more data is needed to identify all potentially hazardous space rocks in our immediate cosmos, and how to avoid the total destruction of life on Earth as a result of their impact.