A massive asteroid, as large as the size of 90 elephants, is set to make a close approach towards the Earth on April 6. The asteroid 2023 FM which has a height range of 85-270 metres is hurtling towards Earth at high speeds of 15.8km/sec according to the minorplanetcenter.net.
The Asteroid 2023 FM was discovered on March 16 and its elliptical route was discovered on April 2. As per the calculations of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the asteroid takes about 271 days to orbit the Sun currently.
Asteroid 2023 FM is predicted to not get closer than 3,000,000 km to the Earth’s surface, which means there is almost negligible chance of impact as per the website.
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However, another alarming update was recently shared by NASA’s Asteroid Watch about Asteroid 2023 DW, discovered in late February. This space rock is predicted to come close to planet Earth on February 14, 2046, with a minute chance of collision.
“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 said.
The listed diameter of Asteroid 2023 DW is nearly 50 metres.
“Orbit analysts will continue to monitor asteroid 2023 DW and update predictions as more data comes in,” NASA updated in a tweet.
The US space agency has predicted that Asteroid 2023 DW has a 1 in 600 chance of impacting Earth and despite the low chances, it still poses a threat to the planet.
The asteroid is currently on the top spot on the European Space Agency’s “risk list” for near-Earth objects which says it has a one-in-625 chance of colliding with Earth.
In 1908 a similar asteroid strike called the Tunguska event flattened a massive section of remote Siberian forest, thus, Asteroid 2023 DW has the potential to cause severe damage if it hits a city or metropolitan area.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
