The near-constant bombardment of space rocks buzzing our planet continues, with planetary defenses alerted to a trio of asteroids measuring over 25 meters in diameter en route to Earth’s backyard this week.
To kick things off on Monday, not one but two space rocks over 25 meters (82 feet) in diameter flew past, both of which were detected just this month, leaving little time and space for error in calculating their trajectories.
Asteroid 2020 PP3, 34 meters wide, passed us by at a distance of 6.1 million kilometers (3.7 million miles), having only been spotted 13 days ago. It was followed shortly afterwards by 2020 PJ6, 26 meters wide, at a distance of 5.3 million kilometers, which was spotted four days later on August 15.
Next up, on Wednesday, asteroid 2020 FF3, measuring 25 meters in diameter came far closer, though maintaining a safe distance of 2.4 million kilometers. This space rock was only spotted on August 14.
Punctuating the mid week are two smaller asteroids, 2016 AH164 (3.9 meters) and 2020 QQ2 (15 meters), which will pass at a distance of six million and 3.2 million kilometers on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.
To put the danger in context, the Chelyabinsk meteor which exploded above Russia in February 2013 was just 18 meters in diameter, proving that it doesn’t take much for a meteorite or asteroid to cause a vast amount of destruction.
Meanwhile, the recently-discovered asteroid 2020 PG6 is expected to hit the Earth on August 31, 2029, and measures 14 meters in diameter, highlighting once again the need for humanity to remain vigilant lest we be caught off guard and face a catastrophic impact event.
Meanwhile, another asteroid, known as 2018VP1, stole all the headlines in the past few days having been billed as the “election day asteroid,” as it is estimated to come within 4,994.76 kilometers of Earth on November 2, 2020.
NASA was extremely quick to respond to the breathless headlines, clearly stating that, though there is a very slight chance it’ll “hit Earth” on November 2 2020, the day before the US presidential election, 2018VP1 is only two meters in diameter so will likely burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere if it does stray too close.
Asteroid 2018VP1 is very small, approx. 6.5 feet, and poses no threat to Earth! It currently has a 0.41% chance of entering our planet’s atmosphere, but if it did, it would disintegrate due to its extremely small size.
— NASA Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) August 23, 2020
Well, you never know, what about an asteroid impact in 2020?
[RT]
No problem, All burn in our atmosphere, when enter.
yep
It gets a bit ridiculous to call a 13 foot rock an “asteroid”. Is it still an asteroid if it’s 5 inches in diameter?
Wr all know that we can never trust NASA to tell the truth about anything, they can’t even find NEOS, amateur astronomers have a better track record of detecting NEOS than Never A Straight Answer does. We’re right in the path of what could be hundreds or thousands of meteors headed our way in the immediate future.
September 11 very well an asteroid will hit USA. September 11 2020 also is possibility of attack on Iran without contact if not by
OCT surprises are will come.
The world is on the brink of disaster, and the clock is ticking. Iran has just conducted its first atomic weapons test. Millions of Muslims around the world are convinced their messiah—known as the Twelfth Imam—has just arrived on earth. Israeli leaders fear Tehran, under the Twelfth Imam’s spell, will soon launch a nuclear attack that could bring about a second Holocaust and the annihilation of Israel. The White House fears Jerusalem will strike first, launching a preemptive attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities that could cause the entire Middle East to go up in flames, oil prices to skyrocket, and the global economy to collapse. With the stakes high and few viable options left, the president of the United States orders CIA operative David Shirazi and his team to track down and sabotage Iran’s nuclear warheads before Iran or Israel can launch a devastating first strike.