A lost asteroid could hit Earth next year, but the chances are small
A “lost asteroid” that hasn’t been seen since it was first discovered in 2007 has some scientists worried about the potential of an Earth-bound collision next year, reports indicate. The asteroid, which is known as 2007 FT3, was discovered by astronomers in 2007. However, the asteroid vanished within a day or so of the discovery.
Since it vanished, NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) has tried to determine where the asteroid will travel, working to monitor it and the 32,000 other near-Earth asteroids we know about. Now, NASA experts have revealed that this asteroid could impact Earth next year.
It’s not a definitive impact by any means, as the asteroid’s path cannot be completely determined since it has been lost in space. However, there is a roughly 1 in 11.5 million chance of the lost asteroid crashing into Earth in October of 2024. If it does hit Earth, the asteroid would detonate with the force of 2.6 billion tons of TNT. It wouldn’t be enough to destroy the planet, but it would cause massive damage wherever it landed, and probably send shockwaves throughout the planet.
It’s a scary thought to think that there might be an unseen asteroid barreling toward Earth right at this moment. But this is far from the first time we’ve had to worry about this. Despite discovering and monitoring over 30,000 near-Earth asteroids, NASA and other agencies are confident that there are massive asteroids or comets within the Sun’s glare that we have yet to discover.
Additionally, these agencies are taking advantage of new technology – like the tech that drives the DART test that NASA completed last year – to create ways to mitigate the chances of asteroids crashing into our planet. NASA isn’t sure what happened to the lost asteroid. But if there is a chance it could hit our world, the agency will continue to be vigilant and watch for any signs it can find.
The post A lost asteroid could hit Earth next year, but the chances are small appeared first on BGR.
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A lost asteroid could hit Earth next year, but the chances are small originally appeared on BGR.com on Fri, 24 Nov 2023 at 14:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.