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The QV89 asteroid will fly over our original planet on the morning of 9 September 2019. Astronomers from the Catalina Sky Survey first discovered the rocky object flying around the Sun in August 2006. Nearly 13 Years later, the space rock was placed List of potential impactors of the European Space Agency (ESA). But does this mean that the asteroid is heading towards an inevitable collision course with our planet of origin?
The 2006 QV89 asteroid is a 40 meter wide rock orbiting the Sun once every 474.4 days.
The size of the rock space is comparable to that of the famous Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, or five London double-decker buses.
An asteroid of this size could cause considerable damage if it struck the Earth or disintegrated in the atmosphere.
When a width of 20 meters exploded over the Chelyabinsk Oblast (Russia) in 2013, more than 1,000 people were injured by broken windows.
READ MORE: How often do rogue asteroids hit Earth?
Fortunately for us, this time, ESA rated QV89 as a "safe" item.
According to astronomer Eddie Irizarry of the Caribbean Astronomical Society, the asteroid is not a hazard nor a priority for observations for ESA.
The astronomer wrote for EarthSky: "As we have already said many times and as it is still true, there is currently no dangerous asteroid that presents an imminent risk of impact on the Earth.
"Could an asteroid strike the Earth? Of course. This is why astronomers remain vigilant.
READ MORE: Watch a major asteroid DESTROY Earth in crash simulation
"Conclusion: The 2006 QV89 asteroid was unjustly cited as a threat to the Earth in September 2019.
"In fact, it's one of the many asteroids on the astronomers' risk list, but it's not a priority task. It is classified in the category "No risk". "
And according to NASA calculations, there is a 99.989% chance that the asteroid will be missing in September.
So, what is the particularity of this asteroid? Absolutely nothing.
READ MORE: Unreliable comets from another system may contain "foreign material".
The QV89 asteroid is an excellent example of Apollo-type rock flying around the inner circles of the solar system.
Asteroids and Apollo – type comets are confined within the confines of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and follow an orbit similar to that of the 1862 Apollo asteroid.
Many of these space rocks are called "Near Earth Objects" or NEOs and often intersect with the Earth.
However, these asteroids rarely hit the planet and astronomers are unaware of any object likely to hit our planet in the near future.
Mr. Irizarry said: "Many asteroids appear temporarily in a list of risks because of uncertainties in their orbits.
"These kinds of uncertainties usually occur when an object has recently been discovered by observatories, and has only been seen a few nights after the discovery, then becoming too weak to be observed."
When an asteroid reappears on radar, astronomers can get a better insight into the speed and trajectory of the rock.
This helps scientists reduce the likelihood of impact over hundreds of years.
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