From NOTICE News Daily for March 20, 2023
A newly detected asteroid has a very small chance of impacting the Earth in 2046, Nasa tweeted last week. If it does hit, the asteroid, roughly the size of an Olympic swimming pool, may arrive on Valentine’s Day 2046 according to Nasa calculations.
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Angie: When it comes to romantic gestures, many turn to roses, chocolates, or candlelight dinners to express their love.
But a giant asteroid plunging into the Earth? Well, that’s not so romantic.
Nevertheless, NASA’s tracking a new giant asteroid that’s headed towards us — and might even strike our planet in 23 years, on Valentine’s Day.
The asteroid, dubbed 2023 D-W, is 165 feet long, just 21 feet shorter than the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Today, it’s about 13 million miles away from Earth, or roughly 54 times farther away than the moon.
Government space organizations like NASA and the European Space Agency’s Planetary Defense team have entire groups dedicated to studying the paths of asteroids moving throughout the solar system.
Scientists say asteroid paths are incredibly predictable, and they keep watch in order to calculate the risk that one comes close to striking the Earth.
But asteroid orbits change over time, and come February 14, 2046, NASA scientists originally gave this rock a 1 in 560 chance of hitting the Earth when it was first discovered.
Don’t worry, though — after further study, NASA’s downgraded the chances of impact to 1 in 3,000, meaning they’re 99.97 percent certain it’s not going to strike the planet.
So, go ahead and keep those restaurant reservations.
