The small asteroid, designated C9FMVU2, was first spotted on Thursday morning (Sept. 7), only a few hours before it made its closest approach to Earth. At 10:25 a.m EDT (1425 GMT), the space rock Asteroid 2023 DW was discovered on February 26, 2023. According to NASA, it is about 50 meters (160 feet) in diameter which is roughly as wide as an American football field. It is moving at a speed of 25 km/s (15.5 m/s) and completes one orbit around the Sun in 271 days. The asteroid's path will be drastically altered by Earth's gravity once it zips by. Instead of circling the sun every 359 days, it will move into an oval orbit lasting 425 days, according to NASA. Exactly seven years from today—on April 13, 2029—the “Potentially Hazardous Asteroid” (PHA) called Apophis will pass inside the orbits of our geosynchronous satellites. The mission also will contribute to NASA’s Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM), which will identify, capture and redirect a near-Earth asteroid to a stable orbit around the moon, where astronauts will explore it in the 2020s, returning with samples. ARM is part of NASA’s plan to advance new capabilities needed for future human missions to Mars. Bullseye! How DART hit an asteroid 7 million miles away 05:09. Five asteroids, one as large as a house and two each the size of an airplane, will fly past Earth between Sept. 6 and Sept. 12 NASA has warned a city-destroying asteroid about the size of the Leaning Tower of Pisa could hit Earth on Valentine's Day in 2046.. 2023 DW, confirmed February 28, has a one in 560 chance of How scientists find the big asteroids that can threaten Earth. "You need to know what's coming, when it's coming, and how hard it's going to hit." A Mashable series about the curious space rocks 0:30. An asteroid hit Earth hours after it was discovered Monday, turning into a dazzling fireball that was spotted throughout Europe. Around 12:18 p.m. ET Sunday, astronomer Krisztián Sárneczky kWSp.

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