A giant asteroid¹ called 1999 RQ36 may crash into Earth on September 24 2182, scientists believe.

科学家相信，一颗名为“1999 RQ36”的巨大的小行星可能会在2182年撞击地球。

A team of experts, including some working for NASA, believes the 612-yards-wide object has a one-in-a-thousand chance of an impact 172 years from now.

The odds² of a crash are considerably³ shorter than those given for the asteroid（小行星） Apophis, which has a 1 in 250,000 chance of striking Earth in 2036.

A report in the solar system journal, Icarus, said the odds of an earlier impact were more remote but increased by 2080 when its orbit will bring it swinging（摇摆） back towards Earth.

Maria Eugenia Sansaturio from the Universidad de Valladolid in Spain, who co-led the research, told Universe Today that knowledge of the risk posed by the asteroid "may help design in advance mechanisms⁴ aimed at deviating⁵（偏离，出轨） the asteroid's path."

It was first discovered in 1999 and is more than twice the size of Apophis. If it were to hit it is likely to cause widespread devastation⁶（毁坏，荒废） and possible mass extinction⁷.

Sansaturio added: "The consequence … is not just the likelihood of a comparatively large impact, but also that a realistic deflection（偏向，偏差） procedure, or path deviation⁸ could only be made before the impact in 2080, and more easily, before 2060.2

Previous asteroid impacts are thought to have created massive craters⁹ and tsunamis¹⁰（海啸） and have even been blamed for the extinction of the dinosaurs¹¹.