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Out of the millions of asteroids in our solar system, there's a very small fraction known to potentially impact Earth. But scientists found a new one just two weeks ago that so far seems to pose one of the greatest risks of them all.
The asteroid, known as 2023 DW, was only first discovered on Feb. 26, according to the European Space Agency. It's now been added to the agency's Risk List, a catalog of space objects that could potentially have some kind of impact on Earth, and because of what scientists have so far seen – it's ranking on the list is currently at No. 1.
But don't worry, that doesn't mean catastrophic damage is imminent.
2023 DW has a Torino Scale ranking of 1, meaning that it's currently predicted to pose "no unusual level of danger," according to the scale. Researchers believe that it has about a 50-meter diameter – about the length of an Olympic-sized swimming pool – but said that the "size uncertainty could be large."
"Current calculations show the chance of collision is extremely unlikely with no cause for public attention or public concern," that ranking categorization states. All of the other 1,448 asteroids on the Risk List have a scale ranking of 0.
The ESA currently estimates that the asteroid has a 1 in 607 chance of impacting Earth.
www.cbsnews.com
The asteroid, known as 2023 DW, was only first discovered on Feb. 26, according to the European Space Agency. It's now been added to the agency's Risk List, a catalog of space objects that could potentially have some kind of impact on Earth, and because of what scientists have so far seen – it's ranking on the list is currently at No. 1.
But don't worry, that doesn't mean catastrophic damage is imminent.
2023 DW has a Torino Scale ranking of 1, meaning that it's currently predicted to pose "no unusual level of danger," according to the scale. Researchers believe that it has about a 50-meter diameter – about the length of an Olympic-sized swimming pool – but said that the "size uncertainty could be large."
"Current calculations show the chance of collision is extremely unlikely with no cause for public attention or public concern," that ranking categorization states. All of the other 1,448 asteroids on the Risk List have a scale ranking of 0.
The ESA currently estimates that the asteroid has a 1 in 607 chance of impacting Earth.
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One astronomer said he believes there's about a "1 in 400 chance" the asteroid could impact Earth.
www.cbsnews.com
