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Odds drop newly-found asteroid will hit Earth in 2046
The asteroid, which is named 2023 DW and is estimated to be around the size of a 50-metre Olympic swimming pool, was first spotted by a small Chilean observatory on February 26.
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This unexpected meteor hammered home to the UN that the world needed an asteroid alert system. (NASA/M. Ahmetvaleev)
T
he chances have plummeted that a newly-discovered asteroid with the potential to wipe out a city will hit Earth on Valentine's Day 2046, the European Space Agency said on Tuesday.
The asteroid, which is named 2023 DW and is estimated to be around the size of a 50-metre Olympic swimming pool, was first spotted by a small Chilean observatory on February 26.
It swiftly shot to the top of NASA and ESA lists of asteroids that pose a danger to Earth, leading to a raft of alarming news headlines, some warning lovers to cancel their Valentine's plans on February 14, 2046.
Late last month the asteroid was given a one in 847 chance of hitting Earth -- but the odds rose to one in 432 on Sunday, according to the ESA's risk list.
However Richard Moissl, the head of the ESA's planetary defence office, told AFP on Tuesday that overnight the probability fell to one in 1,584.
"It will go down now with every observation until it reaches zero in a couple of days at the latest," he said.
"No one needs to be worried about this guy."
