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After more observations of asteroid 2002 NT7 throughout July scientists have now been able to rule out the possibility of it colliding with the Earth in 2019. The asteroid made headline news around the world on July 24th because the initial observations indicated that 2002 NT7 had a very small chance of around 1 in 60,000 of impacting with the Earth. Although small the probability and the relatively short time to an impact made the asteroid more hazardous than many others. However, with more observations by astronomers around the world the path followed by 2002 NT7 has been identified much more accurately and the chance of it encountering the Earth is now known to be negligible.
There have now been several cases in which newly discovered asteroids have at first had a chance of colliding with the Earth. Each time, however, further observations have revealed that, although they will come close to the Earth, they will not collide with our planet in the next few hundred years. It is because the path of a newly found asteroid is only approximately known that they initially have a higher chance of encountering the Earth. Scientists report such new discoveries openly on the internet since this alerts astronomers around the world so they can make the follow-up observations needed to more accurately determine the path and chance of collision. Importantly this also means that if an asteroid was found to have a high chance of colliding with the Earth that no organisation could cover-up the information.
Asteroid 2002 NT7, like many before, does, however, illustrate that Near Earth Asteroids can pass close to and even collide with our planet and that searching for asteroids is an important task. At present around half of all Near Earth Asteroids larger than 1 km in diameter have been discovered and so far only one has a chance of hitting the Earth, 1950 DA in the year 2880. If necessary an asteroid that was on a collision course with our planet could be deflected to prevent an impact.
More info: NASA Announcement
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