NASA Identifies Asteroid With Most Number Of Potential Impacts On Earth

NASA has identified the asteroid that could cause the most number of potential impacts on Earth. According to the agency, the asteroid follows an Earth-crossing orbit.

The asteroid is known as 2012 HG2. It is currently listed in the database of Sentry, which is NASA’s impact monitoring system. As noted by the agency, all asteroids listed in Sentry’s database have chances of colliding with Earth in the future.

“Sentry is a highly automated collision monitoring system that continually scans the most current asteroid catalog for possibilities of future impact with Earth over the next 100 years,” NASA explained in a statement.

Sentry has detected a total of 469 potential impacts from 2012 HG2. This figure indicates the asteroid's chances of hitting Earth in the future. Currently, 2012 HG2 holds the highest number of potential impacts in Sentry’s database. The second highest is 164 potential impacts, which belong to the asteroid called 2007 FT3.

According to Sentry, the asteroid’s first potential impact could happen on Feb. 12, 2052. If the asteroid misses Earth on this date, there’s still a chance that it might collide with the planet in the following year.

As noted by Sentry, 2012 HG2’s 469 potential impacts could happen from 2052 to 2119.

2012 HG2’s high number of potential impacts was most likely caused by certain factors in space and its natural orbit. According to NASA, the asteroid follows a wide orbit around Earth. From time to time, it crosses Earth’s orbit as it goes around the Sun.

Due to its Earth-crossing nature, it has been labeled as an Apollo asteroid.

Fortunately, 2012 HG2 has a small diameter of about 46 feet. Given its size, it is not in danger of hitting the ground and causing an impact event if it ends up colliding with Earth. Instead, the asteroid will probably burn up in the atmosphere and explode in the sky.

2012 HG2 is expected to visit Earth’s vicinity this year. According to NASA, the asteroid’s Earth flyby will happen on Oct. 22. During this time, the asteroid will fly past the planet from a distance of about 0.35679 astronomical units or about 33 million miles away.