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Updated: November 29, 2020 9:59:15 am
Asteroids 1 km or more in diameter, capable of causing catastrophic effects worldwide, are extremely rare and affect our planet once every 100,000 years. (Representative image)
A relatively large asteroid, named 153201 (2000 WO107), will move safely beyond Earth on November 29 (Sunday) and will be closest to our planet at 10:38 Indian Standard Time.
And, as happens every time an asteroid approaches, social media platforms have been abuzz with panicked users talking about doomsday scenarios. This week, the same is happening because of 153201 (2000 WO107), the asteroid is “the size of Burj Khalifa”.
In fact, a civilization-threatening risk from space objects is extremely rare, occurring once every few million years, according to NASA.
Asteroid 153201 (2000 WO107)
The asteroid has a diameter of over 500m and is more than 800m high, about the size of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world measuring 830m. It was discovered in 2000, according to the website of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
It has been classified as NEO (Near-Earth Object), a group of comets and asteroids pushed into orbits by the gravitational pull of neighboring planets that allows them to enter the Earth’s neighborhood. These objects are mainly composed of frozen water with embedded dust particles and occasionally approach the Earth as they orbit the Sun.
It is also listed as a potentially dangerous asteroid (PHA), which NASA defines “based on parameters that measure the asteroid’s potential to make threatening approaches to Earth.”
“Specifically, all asteroids with a minimum orbital intersection distance (MOID) of 0.05 au or less are considered PHA,” according to the space agency. 📣 Express Explained is now on Telegram
Asteroid 153201 (2000 WO107): Should we be worried?
Although this asteroid is large in size, it will maintain a distance of over 43 lakh km when it passes close to the Earth, more than the distance between our planet and the Moon.
According to The Planetary Society, there are estimated to be around 1 billion asteroids with a diameter greater than 1 meter. Those that can cause significant damage on impact with the Earth are larger than 30 meters.
According to NASA’s Near-Earth Object Observations Program, asteroids that are 140 meters or larger (larger than a small football stadium) are “the greatest concern” due to the level of devastation their impact is capable of. to cause. However, it was pointed out that no asteroid larger than 140 meters has a “significant” chance of hitting Earth for the next 100 years.
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A meteoroid – a small particle from a comet or asteroid – the size of a football field impacts Earth every 2000 years, causing severe damage to the area it hits.
Asteroids 1 km or more in diameter, capable of causing catastrophic effects worldwide, are extremely rare and affect our planet once every 100,000 years. The likelihood of comets causing such damage is even lower, about once every 500,000 years.
The Chicxulub impactor, the large 10-kilometer-diameter space object that caused the sudden extinction of most dinosaur species, hit our planet 66 million years ago.
In a recent tweet, NASA said, “Yes, asteroids always pass safely over Earth and there is no known threat of asteroid impact for the next 100 years. Regardless, stories sometimes emerge with alarming headlines surrounding particular asteroids, so we like to reassure everyone when we witness such conversations. “
Yes, asteroids pass safely on Earth all of the time, and there is no known threat of asteroid impact for the next 100 years. Regardless, stories sometimes emerge with alarming headlines surrounding particular asteroids, so we like to reassure everyone when we witness such conversations.
– NASA Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) 1 September 2020
Is there a way to deflect the asteroids?
Over the years, scientists have suggested several ways to ward off the threats of more severe impact events, such as blowing up the asteroid before it reaches Earth or deflecting it from its Earth-bound path by hitting it with a spacecraft.
The most drastic measure undertaken so far is the Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA), which includes NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Hera. The mission’s target is Didymos, a near-Earth binary asteroid, one of whose bodies is the size that could pose the most likely significant threat to Earth.
In 2018, NASA announced that it had begun construction of the DART, which is expected to be launched in 2021 with the aim of crashing into the smallest asteroid in the Didymos system at around 6 km per second in 2022. Hera, which is expected to be launched in 2024, it will arrive at the Didymos system in 2027 to measure the impact crater produced by the DART collision and study the change in the orbital trajectory of the asteroid.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
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