'Potentially hazardous' asteroid spotted. Will it be a threat to Earth?

Astronomers have announced the discovery of a large, 'potentially hazardous' asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Earth, reports said.

This means that there is a small chance far in the future that the 1.5 km wide asteroid could - depending on a few factors - be on a collision course with our planet.

The asteroid, named 2022 AP7, was discovered in an area normally difficult to spot objects due to the glare from the Sun, AFP reported.


"2022 AP7 crosses Earth's orbit, which makes it a potentially hazardous asteroid, but it currently does not now or anytime in the future have a trajectory that will have it collide with the Earth," said astronomer Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution for Science.

Will it cause danger?

So then, what makes 2022 AP7 potentially hazardous?

That's because its trajectory could be slowly modified due to myriad gravitational forces, especially from other planets. That happens to any orbiting object. That's why long-term forecasts are difficult.

At present the asteroid remains several million kilometers away from Earth even at its nearest point of crossing. 2022 AP7 takes five years to go round the Sun once.

Can it cause severe damage?

If at all it collides with Earth sometime in the far future an asteroid of that size can have a "devastating impact" on life. That asteroid is what astronomers call a "planet killer".

Some 30,000 asteroids of all sizes -- including some more than 850 larger than a kilometer wide -- have been spotted near Earth. None of these are a threat to Earth for the next 100 years.

2022 AP7 was discovered in January, and astronomers kept following its motion. The data showed it is not posing any threat to Earth during the century. Over even for the centuries after that.

So, there’s no immediate need to worry — it’ll be many generations until it may pose a danger to our planet. If at all.