NASA ASTEROID WATCH LIST FULL

It's traveling about 15.5 miles per second (25 kilometers per second) at a distance of more than 11 million miles (18 million kilometers) from Earth, completing one loop around the sun every 271 days.įarnocchia noted the success of NASA's DART mission, or the Double Asteroid Redirection Test, in September 2022 as evidence that humanity can be prepared to confront space rocks on potentially disastrous courses. The space rock was first spotted in our skies on February 2. The closest the asteroid is expected to travel to Earth is about 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers), NASA's Eyes on Asteroids website notes. As 2023 DW orbits the sun, it has 10 predicted close approaches to Earth, with the nearest landing on February 14, 2046, and nine others between 20. The asteroid measures about 160 feet (about 50 meters) in diameter, according to NASA data. 'But then the object will remain observable for weeks (even months with larger telescopes) so we can get plenty of observations as needed,' he added. The asteroid watchlist of NASA features three massive asteroids among many others that will fly close to earth this month.

NASA ASTEROID WATCH LIST FULL

The last full moon was two days ago, and it still appears bright and large in the sky, likely obscuring 2023 DW from immediate observation, he said.

It may be a few days before new data can be collected because of the asteroid's proximity to the moon, Farnocchia noted in an email to CNN. NASA provided to the Department of State a list of nations with whom improved. The agency is diligently working to achieve this directive and has currently found approximately 40 of near-Earth asteroids larger than that size. 'Most often, the threat associated with a specific object will decrease as additional observations become available.' knowledge of the asteroid size and composition are collected from. NASA has been directed to discover 90 of NEOs larger than 140 meters (459 feet) in size. 'However, such early predictions can often be ruled out as we incorporate more observations and reduce the uncertainties in the object's orbit,' it reads. Though the 2023 DW tops the list, its ranking of 1 means only that 'the chance of collision is extremely unlikely with no cause for public attention or public concern,' according to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, while a 0 ranking means the 'likelihood of a collision is zero, or is so low as to be effectively zero.' All other objects rank at 0 on the Torino scale. The latter tracks potential collisions with celestial objects.īut the space rock - named 2023 DW - is the only object on NASA's risk list that ranks 1 out of 10 on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale, a metric for categorizing the projected risk of an object colliding with Earth. The asteroid has a 1 in 625 chance of striking Earth, based on data projections from the European Space Agency, though NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Sentry system calculated the odds closer to 1 in 560. (CNN) - A newly discovered asteroid roughly the size of an Olympic swimming pool has a 'small chance' of colliding with Earth in 23 years, with a potential impact on Valentine's Day in 2046, according to NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office.

Nasa asteroid watch list