'Threatening' Asteroid on a Collision Course With Earth Has Just Been Downgraded

It's comforting to know that there are people who are paid to watch the night sky to make sure that we know if an asteroid hits the earth.

The likelihood of a planet-killer-sized asteroid coming out of nowhere is extremely unlikely due to technology and near- Earth surveys.

If they are small, they get enough attention to tell if they pose a threat or not.

One of the most threatening asteroids was removed from the potential impact list by the European Space Agency in advance of Asteroid Day 2022.

The Mount Lemmon observatory was the first to detect the asteroid. It was one of around a dozen near-Earth asteroids that were found that night. It was put on a possible near-miss path with Earth sometime in 2052.

There is a picture of the Earth and the Sun.

The equivalent of six megaton of TNT would be released into the atmosphere at the height of only 9 kilometers. 400 times the strength of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima is the most common metric for high energy impacts.

There is only one time in recent history that an asteroid of that size has hit Earth. The Annual Asteroid Day was celebrated over a remote part of Siberia, thanks to the release of 12 megaton of energy by the Tunguska.

Around three people are thought to have died when the forest was flattened. The result of such an impact could be catastrophic.

The event was in the back of asteroid defenders' minds as they collected follow up data.

Their nerves were put to the test by another event. Further observations were impossible because the asteroid disappeared behind the sun.

The Very Large Telescope is one of the best tools for asteroid-hunting, so scientists waited and planned to collect more data with it.

They were ready when the asteroid came out. They captured an image of an asteroid.

It was shown that there is a zero percent chance that the first moon will hit Earth in 2052. For the foreseeable future, it won't be a hazard.

A few asteroids have been removed from the dangerous list after a sub-optimal blocking maneuver.

The asteroid was removed from the list after the moon interfered with observations. There was a chance of a collision between the asteroid and the moon at the time.

The 70 m rock may have been the most destructive firework display of all time.

Many plans are in place, and they are better discussed in other articles, but the teams of asteroid defenders will keep a lookout.

There's nothing to be worried about for now.

This article was published in the past. The original article is worth a read.