With an estimated diameter of 2 meters (6.5 feet, or roughly one ‘refrigerator’), the asteroid known as 2018VP1 is just “not big enough to cause harm” when it buzz-cuts within 5,000 kilometres of Earth on November 2, celebrity scientist deGrasse Tyson wrote on Twitter and Instagram.
So if the World ends in 2020, it won’t be the fault of the Universe.
The asteroid has actually been on the radar for nearly two years, since 2018VP1 was first detected by the Palomar Observatory in California in November 2018. The rock orbits the sun every 2 years and its next closest approach to Earth will be on November 2 at roughly 4,994 kilometers, which is pretty close in space terms.
However, astronomers at NASA and elsewhere estimated it as posing little threat whatsoever, with only 0.41% chance of entering Earth’s atmosphere this year, only to disintegrate due to its small size.
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
© 2020, paradox. All rights reserved.
He was a staunch supporter of the anti-Bolshevik White Movement during the Russian Civil War…
Ukraine needs to defeat Russia on the battlefield in order to be admitted to NATO,…
Russia has carried out a strike on the Ukrainian military headquarters commanding troops in the southern…
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has met with top military officials to discuss the battlefield…
The German ambassador to the Palestinian Authority has been hounded by an angry mob and…
The Biden administration is considering a ban on enriched uranium from Russia using the president’s…