Asteroid of Hotel Proportions Goes Unnoticed Until Two Days After Its Close Encounter with Earth

It originated from the same direction as the most devastating meteoroid that hit Earth in the last hundred years, but this one might be three times larger. Interestingly, just like the asteroid that caused windows to shatter in Chelyabinsk, Russia in 2013, no one saw this approaching.

What sets this apart is that, fortunately, it missed our planet by a narrow margin. However, it serves as another reminder of humanity’s significant blind spot.

Asteroid 2023 NT1 was initially detected on Saturday, two days after it made its closest approach to Earth on July 13. In other words, by the time sky surveys and scientists became aware of the existence of this space rock, it had already passed us by.

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This asteroid was difficult to detect earlier because it approached Earth from the direction of the sun, much like the Chelyabinsk bolide, which went unnoticed until it disintegrated over Russia, causing a shockwave that shattered numerous windows and caused injuries to hundreds of people.

This has long been recognized as a gap in humanity’s planetary protection systems, and NASA is planning a mission called NEO Surveyor to address this issue by the end of the decade. The European Space Agency’s upcoming NEOMIR will also aid in developing an early warning system for near-Earth asteroids in the 2030s.

MORE FROM FORBESMost Potential City-Killer Asteroids Lurk Undiscovered Near EarthBy Eric Mack

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Estimates suggest that the Chelyabinsk meteoroid was about 20 meters wide when it entered our atmosphere, whereas 2023 NT1 appears to be three times larger, roughly the size of prominent structures like the George Washington hotel in New York City or the Idaho State Capitol.

To understand the potential impact of a direct hit from an object of this size, we need to look back in history to the Pleistocene epoch 50,000 years ago when a slightly smaller asteroid created the renowned Meteor Crater in Arizona. The exact extent of the damage caused by the impact remains unknown, but the meteorite itself was instantaneously vaporized, leaving behind rare minerals that can only be formed under tremendous pressure, such as lightning, impact, or nuclear explosions.

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The ESA estimates indicate that there could be approximately one million near-Earth asteroids measuring between 30 and 100 meters wide, with 98.9% of them yet to be discovered.

The majority of these asteroids tend to maintain their distance as they orbit the sun. However, 2023 NT1 approached within approximately 60,000 miles of Earth, which may seem like a comfortable margin in reality, but in the vastness of space, it is incredibly close, especially considering its proximity to the region where many of our large satellites are positioned.

New asteroids passing this closely by Earth are being identified every week, although 2023 NT1 is one of the largest observed in the past year.

Fortunately, we have now included it in our catalog, so we should be able to anticipate its future approaches.

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