Solar system, rather the whole universe, is abundant with asteroids. Since time immemorial, asteroids — ancient space rocks which appeared from the formation of the solar system — have been the biggest menace for the human beings in the Universe. And there have been talking points that asteroids were one of the main reasons that caused the extinction of dinosaurs.
According to a National Aeronautics and Space Administration(Nasa) report, an asteroid is all set to pass through the Earth very closely in the coming days. As per the Nasa calculations, the asteroid, roughly the size of an Olympic swimming pool, is likely to arrive on Valentine’s Day 2046.
The Nasa scientists are of the view that this asteroid could damage if it collides with a densely populated area. However, it is predicted that the space rock could not threaten life on the Earth as its size is not big enough. Researchers are still working to collect data in this regard to find out precise predictions.
The space rock, which is named as 2023 DW, has a 1 in 625 chance of striking the Earth, says Nasa.
The US space agency said that the odds of impact could be changed as more data of 2023 DW are collected. “The 2023 DW has a very small chance of impacting the Earth in 2046,” says Nasa.
“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,” Nasa Asteroid Watch tweeted.
As per report, the asteroid was first found out on February 2, which is said to be travelling about 25 kilometers per second at a distance of around 18 million KM from this planet.