National World By Heather Carrick 3/9/2023
NASA asteroid 2023 DW: is it on course to collide with Earth, how big is it, when could it hit?
Nasa has been tracking the ‘2023 DW’ asteroid and its data since the end of February
US space agency NASA has spoken out about a new asteroid, which could be on course to collide with Earth in the next few decades.
The ‘2023 DW’ asteroid was discovered by scientists on 27 February. Its path and trajectory has been tracked ever since, along with the likelihood of it hitting the surface.
New updates about the asteroid have revealed how likely it is the space rock could come to crashing into Earth, although NASA says there is no need to panic yet - and it could be quite a while before it becomes a real threat.
Odds increased over the next few days, with experts now predicting a one in 560 chance of the asteroid hitting Earth. While the chance of a collision has gone up, in the grand scheme of things there still remains just a small chance of this happening.
Although the odds are climbing on the likelihood of the asteroid hitting, it won’t happen for quite some time - if at all. In the unlikely event that the asteroid breaches our orbit, NASA experts predict that the earliest this could happen is around Valentine’s day - 14 February - 2046.
How big is the 2023 DW asteroid?
NASA scientists were able to measure the size of the asteroid when they first detected it on 27 February. The asteroid is said to be around 165 feet - or 50 metres - long.
This equates to around the size of an Olympic-sized swimming pool or the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. An impact from an object this size could cause severe damage around its landing site.
In 2013, an asteroid roughly around half the size of 2023 DW landed in Russia. It damaged thousands of buildings in the vicinity, as well as injuring more than 1,000 people.
More:
https://www.nationalworld.com/news/science/nasa-asteroid-2023-dw-is-it-on-course-to-collide-with-earth-how-big-is-it-when-could-it-hit-4058269
