There are likely thousands of dwarf planets waiting to be discovered beyond Neptune.

Like planets, dwarf planets are generally round (Haumea looks like an overinflated football) and orbit the Sun. Pluto, for example, has not cleared its orbit of similar objects while Earth or Jupiter have no similarly-sized worlds on the same path around the Sun. The ESA predicts that the asteroid has a 1 in 607 chance of impacting Earth, and estimates that the collision could occur as early as Valentine's Day 2046, although it could also occur on subsequent Valentine's Days between 20.The key difference between a planet and a dwarf planet is the kinds of objects that share its orbit around the Sun. 26, according to the European Space Agency, which added the rock to its own Risk List and ranked it at No. However, as of Tuesday this week, officials removed the asteroid from the Sentry risk table, a monitoring system developed at the turn of the century to keep a running catalog of space objects that hold any risk of colliding with Earth over at least the next 100 years.Īnother asteroid, which scientists also discovered in February and named 2023 DW, potentially carries a larger risk of impacting Earth in the relatively foreseeable future. 'Astronomers with the International Asteroid Warning Network are using this close approach to learn as much as possible about 2023 DZ2 in a short time period - good practice for #PlanetaryDefense in the future if a potential asteroid threat were ever discovered,' the agency wrote in a second tweet.Īccording to EarthSky, scientists for a time believed the new asteroid presented a possible risk of colliding with Earth during a future orbit, and suggested that 2023 DZ2 could impact Earth on March 27, 2026.

While close approaches are a regular occurrence, one by an asteroid of this size (140-310 ft) happens only about once per decade, providing a unique opportunity for science.- NASA Asteroid Watch March 21, 2023 A newly discovered #asteroid named 2023 DZ2 will safely pass by Earth on Saturday at 100K+ miles away.

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