huskuNov 2, 2022
Mikko Tuomi

Another irresponsible news article about a recently detected near-Earth asteroid 2022 AP7.

"Huge 'planet killer' asteroid discovered - and it's heading our way" https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/nov/01/huge-planet-killer-asteroid-discovered-and-its-heading-our-way

First of all, it is nothing unusual, only one of many known asteroids whose orbit crosses that of the Earth. Second, it is not "heading our way" in any meaningful sense of the phrase. Such fear-mongering, while not uncommon, is very irresponsible.

Huge ‘planet killer’ asteroid discovered – and it’s heading our way

With a diameter of 1 to 2km, space rock named 2022 AP7 crosses our orbit but has ‘no chance’ of hitting Earth

The Guardian
Nov 2, 2022 at 8:19amWeb
Show threadMikko TuomiNov 2, 2022

This new asteroid detection has astronomical importance though.

It helps determine the abundance of such asteroids, of which there are still many to be found. But although labelled 'near-Earth asteroid', the chances of it ever coming very near are slim. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/ac8cff