A newly discovered asteroid is greater than the Olympic swimming pool, which has attracted the attention of international space institutions, because scientists calculate that it has a small but significant opportunity to attack the earth in December 2032.
The European Space Administration (ESA) announced today that the asteroids discovered by Chilean astronomers last month have risen to the top of its asteroid risk list in 2024. Despite 99 % of the opportunities for security, the impact of the remaining 1.2 % may trigger an international response plan.
The space of the space was between 40 and 100 meters. On December 27, 2024, it was first discovered by the ATLAS telescope by the asteroid on the small asteroid in Chile. This size object usually only affects the earth every thousand years, but if it is impacted, it may destroy the local area.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_jqebmyvqu
The potential threat of Xiaoxing has reached level 3 on the Torino impact risk table, which is worthy of the attention of astronomers and the public. This development activates two small asteroid response group registered by the United Nations, which marks the significant upgrade of monitoring.
The tracking object proposes a unique challenge. Xiaoxing is currently far away from the earth in a almost straight way, which makes accurate track calculations difficult. What is even more worrying is that until 2028, scientists may completely ignore it, leaving four years of observation opportunities.
To cope with this potential threat, ESA’s planetary defense office is coordinating the international observation campaign. This effort will eventually be one of the most powerful telescopes that eventually deploy southern European observation stations in Chile. This is one of the most powerful eyes on the planet.
The Space Task Planning Consultation Group hosted by ESA will meet in Vienna next week to evaluate the potentially harmful response of spacecraft. This marks the first time that the international authorities need to consider active intervention to achieve the risk of verification.
The test reflects the improvement of the survey technology of small asteroids, which shows that we may find more potential threats that have not been noticed before. As we find the ability of these universe tourists, our ability to prepare for potential impact will increase.
The current 1.2 % impact probability calculation comes from three independent sources: ESA, NASA’s near -ground object research center (CNEOS) and Neodys, which provides a strong consensus on risk assessment.
Scientists emphasize that with more observation data is available, this initial impact probability usually increases before zero. However, if the asteroid gradually disappears from the view from a astronomer, it will be kept on the ESA risk list until it is observed again in 2028.
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