NASA scientists are monitoring a newly discovered asteroid that may have an impact on Earth in 2046.
According to NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office, the possibility of an asteroid impacting Earth is low.
And the office added that, despite the low probability, analysts at the US space agency are closely monitoring the asteroid, which is the size of an Olympic swimming pool.
And the European Space Agency placed the asteroid 2023 DW, which was first spotted on February 28, at the top of the “risk list,” according to the British “Sky News” network.
According to the European Agency, the asteroid has the ability to hit Earth on February 14, 2046, or in the following years until 2051.
And astronomer Piero Ciccoli, coordinator of the Italian Astronomical Observatory of Surmano, indicated, in special calculations of the asteroid’s trajectory, that there is a one in 400 chance of an asteroid colliding with Earth.
If that happens, Ciccoli’s calculations indicate that the asteroid could collide between the Indian Ocean and the east coast of the United States.
It is worth noting that “NASA” is working on the NEO Surveyor to launch it in 2028, which will be the first space telescope designed specifically to hunt asteroids and comets that may represent a potential danger to Earth.