NASA says an asteroid might ruin your Valentine’s Day plans in 2046
Hopefully, you don’t already special have special plans 23 years ahead, because scientists have recently discovered an asteroid that they say has a “small chance” of colliding with Earth on Valentine’s Day in 2046, according to CNN.
The news: The asteroid, dubbed 2023 DW, was discovered on February 26, according to the European Space Agency, and it currently sits at #1 on their “risk list.”
CBS says that this news doesn’t need to send anyone panicking. 2023 DW, with a Torino Scale ranking of 1, is expected to pose “no unusual level of danger.”
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“Current calculations show the chance of collision is extremely unlikely with no cause for public attention or public concern,” CBS reported.
The European Space Agency Predicts that the asteroid has a 1 in 625 chance of striking Earth, but NASA says the odds are closer to 1 in 560, per CNN.
Details: Since the asteroid was just recently discovered, NASA says that it will take several weeks to accurately predict the course of the space object, the organization tweeted.
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
While data shows that the asteroid could hit Earth on Valentine’s Day in 23 years, it’s also likely to miss our planet by more than 1.1 million miles, according to USA Today.
NASA reports that the asteroid is roughly 50 meters (160 feet) in diameter, which is about the width of a football field.
What if the asteroid hits earth? Astronomer Piero Sicoli drew a map of where he predicted the asteroid could make an impact, according to CBS, which could be anywhere from Singapore, somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, or maybe even hit in the middle of the U.S.
#2023DW. With just 3 days of arc, I found about 1 in 400 chance of impact on Feb. 14, 2046 (JPL 1/770). Surely this possibility will soon be ruled out, however, as an exercise, I calculated where the asteroid might fall if this possibility occurred. pic.twitter.com/ldlSYJMvMz
— PS (@Piero_Sicoli) March 2, 2023
Davide Farnocchia, a navigation engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California told CNN that while he doesn't think this object is concerning, if it does happen to get close to Earth, NASA has technology in place to avoid a collision.
Farnocchia referred to NASA’s DART mission, in which they launched a spacecraft that collided with an asteroid and successfully changed its course. The same could be done to 2023 DW if needed.
According to USA Today, if an asteroid like 2023 DW hits Earth it could “likely cause local damage to the impact area.” But scientists say that the asteroid's threat level to our planet is relatively low.
