It seems, Armageddon has come alive and like the film, an asteroid is prepared to ruin Valentine’s Day in 23 years' time. As per NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Sentry system, which is known to track the potential collisions with celestial objects, a 160-foot-wide space rock dubbed 2023 DW has 10 predicted close approaches to Earth, with the nearest expected on February 14, 2046, at about 1.1 million miles from our planet.
The asteroid was first discovered on February 2, and it is known to possess one in 625 chance of striking Earth on 2046, per projections by the European Space Agency.
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
Orbit analysts will continue to monitor asteroid 2023 DW and update predictions as more data comes in. Explore this asteroid and others: https://t.co/vXY8HDjycJ (2/2)
— NASA Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) March 7, 2023
However, NASA officials assured on Tuesday via Twitter that 2023 DW has "a very small chance of impacting Earth," though the odds of impact could be significantly altered as more observations are completed. "Often when new objects are first discovered it takes several weeks of data to reduce the uncertainties and adequately predict theirs orbits years into the future," NASA's Asteroid Watch tweeted. "Orbit analysts will continue to monitor asteroid 2023 DW and update predictions as more data comes in."
As per the Center for Near Earth Object Studies, newly discovered asteroids often emerge more threatening when they are initially observed. "Because orbits stemming from very limited observation sets are more certain it is more likely that such orbits will 'permit' future impacts," its website read. "However, such early predictions can often be ruled out as we incorporate more observations and reduce the uncertainties in the object's orbit. Most often, the threat associated with a specific object will decrease as additional observations become available."
Image Source: Pixabay