Space agency says asteroid may strike Earth in 2014
Bloomberg News
A United Kingdom government agency responsible for identifying potentially hazardous asteroids has warned of a possible collision on March 21, 2014.
The Near Earth Object Centre says an asteroid measuring 1.2 kilometers (three-quarters of a mile) across is approaching at about 20 miles a second. It is one-tenth the size of the asteroid thought by some to have wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported.
The chance of it actually striking Earth is one in 909,000, according to the NEOC. That is sufficient for it to be given a hazard rating of 1 on the Torino scale, defined as "an event meriting careful monitoring," according to NEOC's Web site. The odds of winning the U.K.'s National Lottery are one in 13,983,816, according to the lottery Web site.
The asteroid has been given the name 2003 QQ47. It was first observed by Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research Program, in Socorro, New Mexico, on Aug. 24.
"As additional observations are made over the coming months, and the uncertainties decrease, asteroid 2003 QQ47 is likely to drop down the Torino scale," said Kevin Yates, project manager for the U.K. NEO Information Centre, based at the National Space Centre in Leicester. "The NEO Information Centre will continue to monitor the latest results of observations and publish regular updates on our Web site."
Asteroids such as 2003 QQ47 are pieces of rock left over from the formation of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago. Most are kept at a safe distance from Earth in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. However, the gravitational influence of giant planets such as Jupiter can nudge asteroids out of these safe orbits and send them plunging into the Earth's vicinity, the Near Earth Object Centre says on its Web site.
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