Valentine’s Day emoji (iStock)
The devastating asteroid the size of the Italian Leaning Tower of Pisa
In a serious warning, the US space agency alerted NASA of a major event that might affect Earth in the year 2046, specifically on February 14, that is, on “Valentine’s Day.”
The agency indicated that there is a possibility that a devastating asteroid the size of the Leaning Tower of Pisa will hit Earth on this date.
Dangerous approach to Earth
And she pointed out that the asteroid discovered on February 28, called 2023 DW, may witness a dangerous approach to Earth about 20 years from now, specifically on February 14 at 4:44 pm ET, according to the “Daily Mail” newspaper.
It also confirmed that the place where the collision will occur is not yet known, with a 1 in 600 chance that it will collide directly with our planet, officials from NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office tweeted.
Asteroid 2023 DW is estimated to be about 165 feet (50 metres) in diameter, or roughly the length of an Olympic swimming pool.
And scientists explained that, as of March 8, the European Space Agency’s Near-Earth Object Coordination Center expected that there is one possibility out of 625 for the asteroid to collide directly with Earth, while these possibilities continue to be recalculated daily.
In the event that the 2023 DW space rock collides with our planet, the event will be similar to the 12-megaton Tunguska event that struck Siberia 114 years ago.
Earth (Shutterstock)
imminent danger
It is noteworthy that this asteroid was the cause of a nuclear explosion that almost destroyed a large urban area, but it fell in a forest, which led to the amputation of more than 80 million trees.
NASA announced the discovery of 2023 DW, noting that it takes several weeks of data to reduce the uncertainties and adequately predict its orbits for years into the future.
While the possibility of an asteroid colliding with Earth changed during the past week. And on the first of March, an Italian astronomer showed that there is a possibility of one in 12,000 chances of the 2023 DW colliding with the Earth, but the odds increased the next day to one in every 710, and now the odds are one in every 560.
DW 2023 is currently ranked at the top of NASA’s risk list at No. 1 on the Turin Scale, which means there is no cause for concern yet.
Nor will the direct impact of 2023 DW be like the 12-kilometer-wide asteroid that killed the dinosaurs, which crashed into Earth 66 million years ago.
However, DW 2023 could cause serious damage if it falls near a major city or densely populated area.
