Odds improve that asteroid will hit Mars in January; still considered unlikely

(CNN) - Analysis of recent images captured by a telescope at the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico indicates the odds that the asteroid 2007 WD5 may hit the planet Mars next month now stand at 1 in 25, significantly higher than last week's initial estimate of 1  in 75.

Steve Chesley with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Near Earth Object Program Office in Pasadena, California, said the images were taken last month as part of an ongoing sky survey, though astronomers did not know at the time that 2007 WD5 was visible in the field of view.  Only now that the asteroid has been identified as being potentially on track to hit a planet have scientists gone back through the existing database of images to look for it.

Chesley cautioned that it remains unlikely that the asteroid will impact Mars.  Astronomers still need more data on the asteroid's orbital path to calculate whether it will hit, he said.