Asteroid feared of hitting Earth on May 6 will pass safely; gets demoted from risk list

The asteroid 2009 JF1, which had scientists on the edge of their seats, will not smack the Earth on May 6. This space rock, which was estimated to be as big as the pyramid of Giza, was previously on the European Space Agency's (ESA) Near-Earth Objects Coordination Center's notable risk list. According to ESA, the asteroid had a 1 in 4,000 chance of hitting Earth this week, but it was dropped from the risk list after detailed observations in February this year. 

The not-so-dangerous 2009 JF1

Discovered in 2009, the asteroid 2009 JF1 was re-evaluated by astronomers because they were unable to accurately track its path after its discovery. The European agency, in a statement released in February, revealed that the space rock "lost its prominence in our risk list, and is relegated together with other more routine objects that pose minimal threat". The new and improved observations revealed that the chances of the asteroid hitting Earth is now 1 in 17,00,000. Moreover, the space rock measures around 10 metres, no bigger than a school bus, and even if it strikes Earth, the damage would not be of major concern, ESA stated. 

The asteroid was discovered by astronomers using the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey's Mt. Lemmon Station in Arizona. According to ESA, the asteroid was not extensively tracked by astronomers but the improved astronomical tools especially the Gaia catalogue as a source of reference stars. "Gaia’s exquisite astrometric precision allowed us to extract more accurate measurements of the object’s position in 2009. Even more importantly, it was now possible to assess the accuracy of our positional measurements to a much better level", the agency said in its statement.

Earth needs an asteroid defense system

Although data suggests that no asteroid will strike Earth in the near future, it still remains the biggest natural threat to human civilisation. Owing to this, NASA launched its Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission late last year, to test the technology required to protect our planet from hazardous asteroids. The mission was launched in November and would involve a spacecraft smashing into a binary asteroid system to see if it deflects the asteroid's trajectory. Read more about the mission here.