A 460-foot wide asteroid that scientists believed had about a one in 500 chance of hitting Earth in 2040 will apparently narrowly miss Earth, according to new projections from scientists at the University of Hawaii.
As recently as last year, scientists believed the asteroid, known as AG5, had "significant potential" to threaten Earth, but a new analysis conducted with the help of Hawaii's Gemini North telescope has found that the asteroid will likely miss Earth by about 550,000 miles (twice the distance to the moon).
If it were to strike Earth, AG5 would create an explosion several thousands times more powerful than the atomic bombs used in World War II.
Scientists say that an asteroid the size of AG5 is likely to hit Earth about once every 10,000 years. Currently, the only asteroid scientists believe could threaten Earth is known as VK187, a 426-foot wide asteroid that has a one in 1,820 chance of hitting Earth in June, 2048.
By
Jason Koebler
