Earth's close encounter of the asteroid kind
Earth is set for a close encounter of the asteroid kind, with a space rock capable of causing damage equivalent to a nuclear explosion passing extremely close to the planet.
But NASA scientists say we won't need a Bruce Willis-style intervention, with the risk of an actual impact deemed very low, the Daily Mail reported.
The asteroid, named 2012 DA14, is expected to pass within 27358km of Earth on February 15, 2013 - something which is closer than many man-made satellites orbiting the planet.
This is believed to be the first asteroid spotted this close to Earth before it was actually passing.
Asteroid 2012 DA passes the Earth around every six months, NASA scientists said.
Scientists spotted 2012 DA14 in February, and calculated that it had a very similar trajectory to Earth's. Early on, there was even fears that an impact could be possible, but a US astronomer has all but ruled it out.
"Asteroid 2012 DA14 is almost certainly not going to hit Earth next February. And by “almost certainly”, I mean it. The odds of an impact are so low they are essentially zero. This does not rule out an impact at some future date, but for now we’re safe," Phil Plait wrote on his space blog, Bad Astronomy.
‘Seventeen thousand miles (27358km) is well beneath many of our own orbiting satellites. To the best of my knowledge, this is the closest pass of a decent-sized asteroid ever seen before the actual pass itself. However, let’s again be very clear - it will miss. In astronomical terms, 17,000 miles is pretty close, but in real human terms it’s a clean miss.’
After its visit next year, 2012 DA14 is not expected to make another pass at the Earth until 2020, but even then the likelihood of collision was just one in 100,000.
Early reports of the asteroid's 2013 visit had suggested it could hit the Earth, sending users on social microblogging site Twitter in a panic.
