The giant asteroid was moving towards the earth, could have become a threat in 2052 … suddenly ‘unconscious’ on the way
Asteroids, such celestial rocks moving in space, change the geography of the planet towards which it travels. In history, we get to see an example of this in the context of the earth itself. Our scientists constantly monitor this threat because the possibility of an asteroid hitting Earth is always there. One such asteroid is ‘2021 QM1’, which is said to hit Earth on 2 April 2052. But the European Space Agency has given a relief update.
ESA has recently confirmed that an asteroid posing a potential threat to our Earth no longer poses any risk to Earth. The path of this 50 meter wide asteroid and initial investigation indicated it to hit the Earth, so the space agency had put it in the ‘Risk List’. It is being called the ‘weakest asteroid ever’ as recent analysis has confirmed that there is no chance of its collision on the announced date. Hence it has been removed from the ‘Risk List’.
Continuous study on asteroid revealed ‘danger’
The asteroid was discovered on August 28 last year by Mount Lemon Observatory in Tucson, Arizona. Such asteroids are being discovered near the Earth every day, so scientists did not pay attention to it. But one case seemed worrying to ESA’s head of planetary defense, Richard Moisel, as he continued to study the celestial body.
2052 impact ruled out as ESA counts down to @AsteroidDay 👉https://t.co/qOy1KKLHDl#RiskiestAsteroid🪨#AnotherOneBitesTheDust❌
— ESA Operations (@esaoperations) June 29, 2022
📸Busy star field and #2021QM1's expected path, @ESO's VLT/O.Hainaut pic.twitter.com/OMSwy3E9Pr
The results were based on observation of a few nights
“Preliminary investigations revealed the path of the asteroid, which allowed us to predict the future,” Moisl said in a statement. “We could see its future path around the Sun and it could come dangerously close to Earth in 2052,” he said. However, these studies were based on observation of only a few nights. In later days this asteroid became difficult to see.
Asteroid showing very weak in VLT pictures
When it reappeared, astronomers studied it with the Very Large Telescope and estimated its path again. In the pictures, 2021 QM1 appeared 250 million times weaker than even the weakest star. Observations revealed that there is no chance of it hitting the Earth in 2052.
