(ORDO NEWS) — Asteroid 2022 EA1 with a diameter of about 70 meters was discovered on January 7, 2022 by astronomers at the Mount Lemmon Observatory (USA).
The space object scared space professionals and amateurs alike, because, according to initial calculations, it was supposed to collide with our planet on July 4, 2023.
That is, the Earth community “would not have had enough time to organize the asteroid deflection,” as stated by the European Space Agency (ESA).
Orbital calculations performed by the NEOCC team in the first week after the asteroid’s discovery indicated an increasing risk of collision, as did data from NASA‘s Jet Propulsion Laboratory experts. The asteroid then disappeared from astronomers’ view for a week due to the bright glow of the full moon.
When astronomers were again able to observe 2022 AE1, they refined the calculations and proved that the space rock would avoid a collision with our planet, flying at a safe distance of about 10 million kilometers. This is more than 20 times the distance to the Moon, ESA says in a new statement.
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