Asteroid 2019 UJ3 MAY Hit Earth On Halloween Day: Countdown Begins

An asteroid (space rock) identified as 2019 UJ3 is all set to come dangerously close to the Earth on October 31 (on the Halloween day) at a staggering speed of nearly 20,000mph, according to NASA. Measuring somewhere in the range of 55.7ft to 124.6ft (17m to 38m) across, asteroid 2019 UJ3 has been classified as a Near-Earth Object or NEO. 

Asteroid 2019 UJ3 will approach our planet on the night of Halloween on October 31. NASA estimates the moment of closest approach will occur around 6:05 PM (IST) or 12:35 PM (GMT). During the flyby, asteroid 2019 UJ3 will reach speeds of around 8.59km per second or 19,215mph (30,924kph). 

Do not worry, NASA does not expect UJ3 to come close enough to pose any threat to Earth. At its closest, asteroid 2019 UJ3 will approach Earth from a distance of about 0.01871 astronomical units. One astronomical unit is the distance from Earth to the Sun – about 93 million miles (149.6 million km). According to a report of express.co.uk, asteroid UJ3 will shorten this down to just 1.7 million miles (2.79 million km) on the night of Halloween. 

Also Read: Collision Between Asteroids Sparked Earth’s Biodiversity: Study

It is to be noted that asteroids, if hit Earth, can bring tsunamis, shock waves and flattening winds that could be catastrophic. The space rocks approach towards the Earth due to the gravitational forces that affect them. It is said that one day all life on the Earth will be extinct. Not only life, but the Earth will also extinct someday and an asteroid could be the possible reason. Shocked to hear that? However, a car-sized asteroid slams into the Earth's atmosphere about once in a year. On the other hand, an asteroid large enough to threaten the existence of life on Earth arrives once every few million. 

RELATED