Then, fortunately, it turned out that the asteroid, codenamed 2022 AE1, does not cross the Earth's orbit after all.
On January 6, 2022, astronomers at the Mount Lemmon Observatory in Arizona discovered an asteroid about 70 metres in diameter. Initial calculations suggested that the object, code-named 2022 AE1, could smash into Earth on its next pass, on 4 July 2023.
Since the researchers were unable to say for sure about the asteroid's orbit, they began to monitor observations at several different observatories. However, the first seven nights after the sighting, bad news began to emerge, as the asteroid's orbit appeared to be confirmed to be touching Earth. Adding to the anxiety, the full moon the following week prevented the tracking of the planet.
The information about the asteroid was also published by ESA and NASA on a public portal, so basically anyone who wanted to could follow the events.
But fortunately, when they were next able to detect the object, the data showed that the chances of an impact diminish significantly over time - from a Science Alert. And since then, it has been confirmed that 2022 AE1 will not hit the Earth in the foreseeable future.
"In my nearly ten years at ESA, I have never seen such a risky object" said an astronomer from the European Space Agency.
