Asteroid has small chance of hitting Earth

[OzEclipse]

First detected on Feb. 27, the asteroid dubbed 2023 DW is estimated to measure about 165 feet (50 meters) in diameter, or roughly the length of an Olympic-size swimming pool.

For those of you who prefer their asteroid sizes expressed in standard giraffes, I'm working on the conversion.

https://www.livescience.com/newly-disco ... hMsEV5RE6I

Joe

[helicon]

Close call? We shall see.
In 23 years DART will be more advanced hopefully.

[Makuser]

Hi Joe. An interesting link about the Asteroid 2023 DW possible impact. By 2046 I would be 100 years old, so not sure if I will witness this event. If it misses us or DART saves us it will still be a close call.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5dMqHqC4pM
Thanks for finding and sharing this with us Joe and the best of wishes for many clear skies.

[OzEclipse]

Hi Joe. An interesting link about the Asteroid 2023 DW possible impact. By 2046 I would be 100 years old, so not sure if I will witness this event. If it misses us or DART saves us it will still be a close call.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5dMqHqC4pM
Thanks for finding and sharing this with us Joe and the best of wishes for many clear skies.

Thanks Marshall,
@helicon

In 2046, I will be 83.

I think it would be cool to witness the end of the world from the deck of my nursing home. Live a good long life then go out with a bang!



The Earth is in an ellipse of uncertainty because the orbit is not known. Long before 2046 rolls around, there will be more passes, more astrometry. As the orbit is better understood, the ellipse tightens, if the Earth remains in the ellipse, the probability will continue to increase. At some stage, the Earth may end up out of the ellipse at which time the odds will suddenly drop to zero. At the moment, it’s just a bit of a curiosity not anything to be concerned about.

Best wishes and clear skies.

Joe