A total of three rather large asteroids were found, one of which crosses the Earth’s orbit. This could make 2022 AP7 a potentially dangerous asteroid.

The research team says it is the largest asteroid discovered since 2014. It has a diameter of about 1.1 to 2.3 kilometers. Any asteroid larger than one kilometer is considered a major threat to Earth.

If it gets to the point where it hits Earth, the impact could be so great, according to the researchers, that “life as we know it would be destroyed.”

More asteroids are expected to be found near Earth in the next two years. But at the moment, there is no reason to panic: according to the researchers, a possible collision will occur only in a few thousand years.

NASA mission

At the end of September, NASA managed to deliberately collide a rocket with an asteroid. This happened about 11 million kilometers from Earth by “flying to it” at a speed of more than 24,000 kilometers per hour. This NASA mission was a test aimed at protecting Earth if an asteroid approached our planet in the future.