European Space Agency says there is a chance up to 2,000 of them could hit Earth and only 30% are thought to have been spotted – leaving 70% swirling around in space
Armageddon could be getting closer after space boffins revealed they are probing a record 40,000 near-Earth asteroids. There is a chance around 2,000 of them could smash into the planet, according to European Space Agency chiefs who are keeping tabs on them.
But officials have admitted they are most worried about asteroids they have not yet spotted. They are confident they have the biggest – up to a mile wide – in their sights.
Those giant chunks of rock could cause global disaster if they struck Earth. Many smaller ones would cause such a tiny impact their landing would barely be noticed.
But mid-sized asteroids – up to 1,000ft wide – are much harder to spot and would cause serious regional damage if they were to hit the planet. Only 30% are thought to have been spotted – leaving 70% swirling around in space.
The space agency has developed Flyeye telescopes – designed with a wide, insect-like view of the sky – to monitor all threats. Asteroids are rocky leftovers from the formation of the Solar System four billion years ago. Most orbit the Sun between Mars and Jupiter.
But near-Earth asteroids come within 28 million miles of the planet’s orbit – close enough for planetary defence teams to monitor. The first – Eros – was discovered in 1898.
Now the total number identified has surpassed 40,000 – 10,000 of which were discovered in the last three years alone. Luca Conversi, manager of the space agency’s Near-Earth Object Coordination Centre, said: “The number of discoveries is rising exponentially from one thousand at the beginning of the century to 15,000 in 2016 and 30,000 in 2022.
“As the next generation of telescopes enter operation we expect the number of known near-Earth asteroids to continue to grow at an even higher pace.”
Luca said the new Vera C Rubin Observatory in Chile, ‘will discover tens of thousands’ of new ones. While the agency’s new telescopes will ‘catch asteroids that slip past current surveys’.
Every time a new one is discovered astronomers use all of the available observations to predict its path years ahead.
Dedicated software systems calculate whether the object has any chance of hitting Earth within the next century. World leaders have a plan to divert giant asteroids bound directly for Earth.
NASA successfully changed the course of the asteroid Dimorphos by crashing its DART spacecraft into it in a 2022 exercise.
The European Space Agency’s Hera craft is currently enroute to Dimorphos to assess the aftermath of the impact.
It is also planning a mission to 1,230ft-wide asteroid Apophis to accompany it through a safe but exceptionally close flyby of Earth in 2029.