--- title: "Astronomers Detect “Planet Killer” Asteroid That Poses Small But Real Risk to Earth" description: "Researchers have detected the largest potentially hazardous asteroid in 8 years, a one-mile-wide space rock that could end life as we know it." date: "2022-11-01" modified: "2022-11-01" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/astronomers-asteroid-small-risk-earth" categories: - "Off-World" - "Space" tags: - "asteroids" - "near earth asteroid" - "the digest" --- # Astronomers Detect “Planet Killer” Asteroid That Poses Small But Real Risk to Earth ![Researchers have detected the largest potentially hazardous asteroid in 8 years, a one-mile-wide space rock that could end life as we know it.]() *\Image: DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva/Spaceengine\* ## Deep Impact Using the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a team of National Science Foundation researchers have detected the largest "potentially hazardous" asteroid in eight years, a one-mile-wide space rock that could destroy life as we know it on Earth — if it were to ever collide with us. Fortunately, the asteroid dubbed 2022 AP7 is extremely unlikely to get close enough, despite periodically getting within just 4.4 million miles of Earth, [*The New York Times* reports]() — roughly 18 times the distance from us the Moon — which is technically, within the parameters of a "potentially hazardous" asteroid. Though the possibility is remote, if 2022 AP7 were *did* make impact, it'd be disastrous. "This is what we call a planet killer," Scott Sheppard, an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science and co-author of a [paper]() published in *The Astronomical Journal* last month, told the *NYT*. "If this one hits the Earth, it would cause planetwide destruction. It would be very bad for life as we know it." ## Planet Killer The space rock is one of three recently discovered objects that were hidden from us by the Sun's glare — a reminder that our solar system is anything but an empty void. What makes 2022 AP7 so threatening in particular is the fact that its size means it wouldn't completely burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. According to the *NYT*, there are likely tens of thousands of other space rocks like it, but it's estimated that less than half of them have been discovered. That kind of ever-present threat motivated NASA to [crash its DART spacecraft]() into a much smaller near-Earth asteroid, a groundbreaking experiment attempting to demonstrate that a killer asteroid on a collision course with our planet could be nudged off course. But first, we need to be able to detect them before it's too late. **READ MORE:** [‘Planet Killer’ Asteroid Spotted That Poses Distant Risk to Earth]() \[*The New York Times*\] **More on asteroids:** *[Asteroid NASA Smashed a Spacecraft Into Grew Two Tails]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()