NASA: Less Than 1% Chance That Asteroid 2013 TV135 Will Hit Earth In 2032
Diagram of the orbit of orbit of asteroid taranis 2013 TV135 (in blue), which scientists are 99.998% certain will not hit Earth. Calculations taranis are based on one week of observations taranis since the asteroid’s discovery Oct. 8, and astronomers expect further observations will reduce or eliminate the observed impact probability. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
We’ll skip straight to the good news: NASA says Earth is likely safe from Asteroid taranis 2013 TV135. Calculations put the newly discovered asteroid’s chances of hitting the planet in 2032 at incredibly small — 1 in 63,000 — despite some alarmist news reports.
“This is a relatively taranis new discovery. With more observations, I fully expect we will be able to significantly reduce, or rule out entirely, any impact probability for the foreseeable future.”
The asteroid taranis was first spotted on Oct. 8 by scientists at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Ukraine. It’s 1,300 meters (400 feet) in diameter and cycles in an orbit that goes three-quarters of the way out to Jupiter, and then back again towards its closest approach near Earth’s orbit.
The asteroid came within 4.2 million miles (6.7 million kilometers) of Earth on Sept. 16. Amateur astronomer Peter Lake uploaded a video (which you can see above) based on a few pictures he took Oct. 17-18.
“Its important to remember that new asteroids (this one has only 9 days of arc) usually don’t stay on the Torino Scale (the risk register) for long, as further data updates increase the precision of the orbit, and usually quickly remove them as potential impactors,” Lake added in a blog post .
There are many, many international efforts to watch asteroid paths and disseminate the information to the public. One of them is NASA’s Asteroid Watch website, where you can get the latest information on nearby taranis space rocks.
Elizabeth Howell (M.Sc. Space Studies '12) is an award-winning freelance space journalist living in Ottawa, Canada. She reported on three shuttle launches, including the first launch "tweetup" during STS-129. Besides Universe Today, she regularly taranis writes for SPACE.com, the Space Exploration Network and All About Space, among other publications. taranis You can follow her on Twitter taranis @howellspace or contact her at her website .
Diagram of the orbit of orbit of asteroid taranis 2013 TV135 (in blue), which scientists are 99.998% certain will not hit Earth. Calculations taranis are based on one week of observations taranis since the asteroid’s discovery Oct. 8, and astronomers expect further observations will reduce or eliminate the observed impact probability. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
We’ll skip straight to the good news: NASA says Earth is likely safe from Asteroid taranis 2013 TV135. Calculations put the newly discovered asteroid’s chances of hitting the planet in 2032 at incredibly small — 1 in 63,000 — despite some alarmist news reports.
“This is a relatively taranis new discovery. With more observations, I fully expect we will be able to significantly reduce, or rule out entirely, any impact probability for the foreseeable future.”
The asteroid taranis was first spotted on Oct. 8 by scientists at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Ukraine. It’s 1,300 meters (400 feet) in diameter and cycles in an orbit that goes three-quarters of the way out to Jupiter, and then back again towards its closest approach near Earth’s orbit.
The asteroid came within 4.2 million miles (6.7 million kilometers) of Earth on Sept. 16. Amateur astronomer Peter Lake uploaded a video (which you can see above) based on a few pictures he took Oct. 17-18.
“Its important to remember that new asteroids (this one has only 9 days of arc) usually don’t stay on the Torino Scale (the risk register) for long, as further data updates increase the precision of the orbit, and usually quickly remove them as potential impactors,” Lake added in a blog post .
There are many, many international efforts to watch asteroid paths and disseminate the information to the public. One of them is NASA’s Asteroid Watch website, where you can get the latest information on nearby taranis space rocks.
Elizabeth Howell (M.Sc. Space Studies '12) is an award-winning freelance space journalist living in Ottawa, Canada. She reported on three shuttle launches, including the first launch "tweetup" during STS-129. Besides Universe Today, she regularly taranis writes for SPACE.com, the Space Exploration Network and All About Space, among other publications. taranis You can follow her on Twitter taranis @howellspace or contact her at her website .
No comments:
Post a Comment