Asteroid alert on Valentine's Day 2046: NASA tracking asteroid 2023 DW likely to hit Earth on February 14 in 2046

According to NASA, an asteroid known as 2023 DW is being tracked right now and poses a slight risk of colliding with Earth on February 14, 2046. The asteroid 2023 DW, which has an estimated diameter of roughly 49.29 metres, is currently located about 0.12 astronomical units (AU) from Earth, according to NASA's Asteroid Watch. The average distance between the centres of the Earth and the Sun is measured in astronomical units.

The asteroid is moving at a speed of 24.64 kilometres per second (approx) in relation to the Sun. One orbit of the Sun in 2023 DW takes roughly 271 days to complete. It may pass within 0.49 AU of the star in the centre of our planetary system when it is at its perihelion, or closest point to the Sun. These numbers could, of course, alter based on more sightings of the near-Earth object.

Taking to Twitter, NASA Asteroid Watch’s has tweeted, “We've been tracking a new asteroid named 2023 DW that has a very small chance of impacting Earth in 2046. Often when new objects are first discovered, it takes several weeks of data to reduce the uncertainties and adequately predict their orbits years into the future. ”

The European Space Agency's "Risk List," which compiles all objects that approach Earth closely and have the greatest risk of impact, currently has the asteroid 2023 DW at the top.

"Orbit analysts will continue to monitor asteroid 2023 DW and update predictions as more data comes in," reads another tweet by NASA Asteroid Watch.

The asteroid now ranks level 1 on the Torino scale, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), which means “a routine discovery in which a pass near the Earth is predicted that poses no unusual level of danger.”

According to the calculations, there is no reason for the public to pay attention to or be concerned about the possibility of a crash.

As per the calculations, the likelihood of a collision is incredibly remote, thus there shouldn't be any reason for public alarm or attention. New telescopic observations may also enable scientists to downgrade the threat's level to 0 in the future.

Thus, it is unlikely that the asteroid will actually strike Earth at this time.