Asteroid in 2040 won’t hit earth, NASA says
Asteroid YU55, taking at run at Earth.
The asteroid 2011 AG5 will safely pass earth in 2040, a new study shows. Woohoo!
Scientists originally predicted that it would hit Earth. In February, astronomers said that the 460-foot asteroid had a 1 in 165 chance of colliding with us.
Researchers later said that the asteroid had a 1 in 500 chance of hitting earth, but even more research proved that the asteroid's journey would be harmless, UPI reported. A new NASA prediction based on observations done using the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii shows that the asteroid won't get any closer than 550,000 miles to our planet.
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"These were extremely difficult observations of a very faint object," Richard Wainscoat, a member of the team of researchers that monitored 2011 AG5, told CBS News. "We were surprised by how easily the Gemini telescope was able to recover such a faint asteroid so low in the sky."
The findings add more support to a NASA study published in June, which also found that the asteroid would safely pass Earth.