Asteroid could hit Earth on Valentine's Day in 2046

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WASHINGTON D.C. (KXAN) - Earth may have a very bad Valentine's Day in its future. NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office announced earlier this week that they have detected an asteroid that may impact the Earth on Feb. 14, 2046.

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

The asteroid, named 2023 DW, is currently 12-million miles from Earth and is traveling at 24.63 kilometers per second. It is roughly 160 feet across. For context, the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs was nearly nine-miles-wide.

The European Space Agency said that the likelihood of an impact is low, a 1-in-625 chance.

The asteroid was discovered by George Attard and Alain Maury on February 26th, 2023. According to NASA's Eyes on Asteroids App, the asteroid orbits our sun every 271 days.

Preventing asteroid impacts

NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office helps detects potential hazardous objects. It also tracks and issues warnings of potential impacts.

Last year, the PDCO launched the DART Mission. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test is one plan to prevent a catastrophic asteroid impact. DART's mission is to redirect an object before it nears Earth.

The first mission, which was launched an the asteroid Didymos, was successful. A small satellite made impact with the asteroid, altering its path as planned.