Asteroid 2019 XF To Come Extremely Close To Earth On December 18, Likely To Hit Us

An asteroid identified as 2019 XF will come dangerously close to Earth at nearly 54,000mph on December 18, 2019, NASA’s asteroid trackers have revealed. The US space agency further estimated that the asteroid 2019 XF measures somewhere in the range of 190 feet to 426.5 feet (58m to 130m) across. The space rock is comparable in height to the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

Asteroid 2019 XF will come close to Earth on December 18 around 4.20 AM (GMT). During its closest approach, asteroid 2019 XF will be only 0.02352 astronomical units away from the Earth’s centre. Fortunately, the massive space rock will zip past the Earth. Relax, we are safe.

Importantly, NASA’s astronomers at the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) first observed asteroid 2019 XF on November 25 this year.

It is worth mentioning here that on December 20, asteroid 216258 (2006 WH1) will come dangerously close to Earth at a staggering speed of 26,843 miles per hour. The 540-metre space rock is the same size as the World Trade Centre and would cause a significant amount of damage and mass extinction if hits Earth.

On December 26, asteroid CH59 will come astronomically close to Earth. Measuring somewhere around 2,000 feet, asteroid CH59 is hurtling towards Earth at the speed of 27,450mph. The space rock will come dangerously close to Earth at around 7.54 AM (GMT) of December 26, 2019. During its closest approach, asteroid CH59 will approach the planet from a distance of about 0.04874 astronomical units (au). Asteroid CH59 is comparable in size to China’s Canton Tower and The Sears Tower in Chicago, US.

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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.

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