The asteroid CE2XZW2, discovered on Wednesday, is likely to collide with Earth, Nikolai Zheleznyov, a senior researcher at the Institute of Applied Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IPA RAN), told RIA Novosti.
"The nominal orbit is about 3 thousand kilometers from the center of the Earth. This means that the probability of a collision is high. However, it should be understood that we are talking about a certain probability of a collision, albeit a fairly high one," Zheleznyov said.
He noted that there is still insufficient data to determine when the collision could occur; it is even possible that it will occur today.
At the same time, the astronomer noted that the orbits of the newly discovered asteroids are initially known with only moderate accuracy. As observations continue, accuracy increases, and the Earth may move entirely out of the area where the asteroid is predicted to land.
Zheleznev recalled that the first case when an asteroid was detected just a day before it fell to Earth occurred in 2008. And the Chelyabinsk meteorite, which is comparable in size to this asteroid, was not observed in 2013 because it was moving away from the Sun.
The astronomer estimated the size of CE2XZW2 to be approximately 20 meters. According to him, such bodies are guaranteed to explode in the Earth's atmosphere. Therefore, even if an asteroid enters Earth's atmosphere, only small fragments will reach Earth's surface.
