The asteroid, known as 2023 DW, is nearly 50 metres in diameter and could arrive on Valentine's Day in 2046, according to NASA calculations. Photo: NASA
Space experts say a newly found asteroid has a small chance of impacting Earth about 20 years from now.
The asteroid, known as 2023 DW, is nearly 50 metres in diameter and could arrive on Valentine's Day in 2046, according to NASA calculations.
The asteroid has about a one in 609 chance of hitting Earth, according to the space agency's calculations.
However, scientists are still collecting data and say there is no reason for concern because the asteroid "has a very small chance of impacting Earth".
Asteroid 2023 DW on 'risk list'
The asteroid has since been placed on the European Space Agency's risk list, a catalogue of all objects floating through space that have the potential to impact Earth.
The asteroid is the only object with a ranking of one on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale - a tool ranging from zero to 10 used for categorising potential Earth-impact events.
All of the other 1448 objects on the risk list have a ranking of zero, which means no risk of impact.
But there is no need to fret. A ranking of one is described as "a routine discovery in which a pass near the Earth is predicted that poses no unusual level of danger", and the chance of collision is "extremely unlikely", with "no cause for public concern".
NASA asteroid expert Davide Farnocchia told CNN asteroid 2023 DW "was not particularly concerning".
"There is a 99.8 percent probability that the object is not going to reach the Earth," he said.
Asteroid-smashing mission
While it is unlikely the asteroid will hit Earth, NASA has been preparing for such a situation.
Last year, the space agency successfully completed its real-life Armageddon mission to bump an asteroid off course.
Its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft ploughed into a tiny moon of an asteroid last September.
It was the world's first full-scale mission to test technology for defending Earth against potential collisions and gave scientists an idea of how effective the technique would be if applied to other asteroids.
-ABC