In January, US researchers discovered the asteroid '2022 AE1'. It could hit Earth in July 2023. But the two figures are hugely encouraging.
There's one good news and two bad news. Let's start with the two bad ones. First: Asteroid "2022 AE1," which was detected on January 6, 2022, is large enough to pass through Earth's atmosphere unscathed and crash into it - resulting in disaster. Secondly, it is possible that this is exactly what will happen on July 4, 2023, as calculated by astronomers. But don't worry: there is good news too. But more about that later.
Asteroid 2022 AE1: Number 1 among objects that may collide with the Earth
Asteroid 2022 AE1 has been discovered by scientists at the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) in the US state of Arizona. The Nasa project specialises in finding potentially dangerous asteroids. The latest find is a direct hit: "2022 AE1" landed right at the top of Nasa's list of near-Earth objects with the potential to collide with Earth. So this object is considered potentially more dangerous than, for example, the asteroid Bennu, a 500-metre-long piece that repeatedly crosses Earth's orbit and comes uncomfortably close to our planet.
The asteroid is about 70 metres in diameter. While small meteoroids burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, objects of about 50 metres or more can penetrate the atmosphere and fall to Earth at a speed of 70 kilometres per second. The kinetic energy is converted into thermal energy within a fraction of a second - in short, a massive explosion occurs.
Astronomers have calculated two possible dates for such a collision with an asteroid: It could happen in July 2028 or as early as July 4, 2023.