NASA Tracks 557FT Asteroid Hurtling Towards Earth Dangerously; Will Space Rock Hit Us?

An asteroid identified as 2020 BR1, as tall as St Paul's Cathedral, is likely to make a close approach to Earth on Sunday (February 23), NASA confirmed. Yes, you read it right. Our planet is all set to have a close encounter with an asteroid 2020 BR1. According to NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), the approaching space rock measure somewhere around 557m (170m) across. The data collected by NASA suggests that the approaching asteroid will close-in on our home planet at around 8.30 PM (IST) on this Sunday. Asteroid 2020 BR1 is approaching towards Earth at the speed of 15.07km per second or 33,710mph (54,252kmh).

At its closest, asteroid 2020 BR1 will visit Earth from a distance of about 0.03945 astronomical units. Importantly, one astronomical unit measures is the distance between Earth and the Sun – about 93 million miles (149.6 million km). This means the space rock will safely miss the Earth by about 3.66 million miles (5.9 million km). In other words, asteroid 2020 BR1 will be more than 15 times as far as the Moon is.

Recently, NASA's Artificial Intelligence (AI) detected 11 asteroids that pose danger to Earth. Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun. Asteroids frequently visit Earth’s neighbourhood as our planet’s gravitational forces affect them. Asteroids can bring tsunamis, shock waves and flattening winds that could be catastrophic.

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.

Also Read: Gut Bacteria May Have Played Bigger Role In Human Evolution That Previously Thought: Study

Last year, many giant asteroids including 2019 OK, 2019 OD, 2015 HM10, 2019 OE, 2019 NN3, 2019 MB4, 2019 MT2, 2006 QV89, 2016 NO56M, RF12, and others approached towards the Earth, fortunately, did not hit our planet.

RELATED