Ukrainian astronomers found an asteroid that has a diameter of 1,299.87 feet (396.2 meters) on its way to Earth. And it is estimated that the asteroid will reach Earth in 19 years (in August, 2032).
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| 400-meters-wide Asteroid could hit the Earth in 2032. (Picture from: http://en.ria.ru/) |
The astronomers team who are members of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Ukraine found giant asteroid last week and named it as 2013 TV135. International scientific community has categorized this giant asteroid as one of two dangerous asteroids ever discovered.
However, the possibility of the asteroid was hitting the Earth estimated to be very small, only about 1 in 63 thousand. That means it has a 99.9984% chance of missing the Earth. This number could either go up or down as new measurements are made over the coming years and considering the damage that can be caused by asteroid reached more than 100 thousand square miles, and can alter the Earth's climate for years afterwards.
As reported by the Russian news agency, RIA Novosti, if the asteroid missed, it is likely it will cross the Earth in a very close distance, approximately 1.6 million kilometers from Earth orbit. The scientists gave the asteroid with the highest point in 10 Torino scale, namely 1.
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| Asteroids which will come closest to the Earth in the next 200 years. (Picture from: http://en.ria.ru/) |
The newly discovered asteroid, now joins 2007 VK184 as the only Torino Scale 1 objects known to astronomers. Asteroid VK184, which is 603 feet (184 meters) in diameter, has a 1 in 1,750 chance of hitting the Earth between 2048 to 2075. If the 2013 TV135 asteroid hit the Earth, is expected to trigger a blast with explosive power of 2,500 megatons or 50 times greater than the biggest nuclear bomb ever detonated.
"The effects of asteroid collision with Earth that would be a disaster, especially if hit right in the inhabited areas," the Ukrainian astronomers reported as quoted from Daily Mail, on Friday, October 18, 2013. How's about the Earth's defense systems in the face of danger of a collision with an asteroid? *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | RIA NOVOSTI | DAILY MAIL | ROSALINA | KORAN TEMPO 4379]
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