The asteroid 2021 QM1, marked as one of the most threatening to our planet, won't hit Earth after all.
This week saw Asteroid Day, the yearly event about the risks to Earth of asteroid impacts, but the European Space Agency marked the event with some good news: The asteroid 2021 QM1, listed as one of the most threatening to our planet, won’t hit Earth after all. First observed last year, it was thought that the asteroid could strike the planet in April 2052, but recent analysis shows that it will pass us safely by.
“These early observations gave us more information about the asteroid’s path, which we then projected into the future,” said Richard Moissl, ESA’s Head of Planetary Defence, in a statement. “We could see its future paths around the Sun, and in 2052 it could come dangerously close to Earth. The more the asteroid was observed, the greater that risk became.”
Astronomers got ready to observe it with the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope and were able to spot the asteroid again in May 2022.
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