The asteroid that might hit Earth

1950DA is an asteroid that was discovered in 1950. Our best predictions of its future orbital path suggest that it has a small chance of colliding with the Earth. Because of its size (1.1km diameter) such a collision would be devastating, but don’t worry, it’s unlikely to happen until March 16, 2880.

1950DA is a big rubble pile (i.e. many smaller pieces brought together by gravity). In 2002 it was considered the most likely “killer” asteroid, but now the actual chance it will hit Earth is only 1 in 8300. For comparison, the chance of being dealt a four-of-a-kind in poker is a little more than twice as likely, at 1 in 4165.

• (29075) 1950DA
• Rubble pile