An asteroid near Earth named Asteroid 2014 DX110 and another named Asteroid 2014 EC missed us by a measly 217,000 and 38,000 miles, respectively, which is actually closer than the distance to the moon.
In a a related report by The Inquisitr , last month an asteroid named 2000 EM26 missed us by two million miles , but that’s still uncomfortably close for comfort. But some people are still worried about the Apophis asteroid hitting Earth in 2036 , with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin claiming the end of the world:
“A 400-meter asteroid threatens to blow up the Earth. Well, that’s a super goal for domestic space.”
Still, I think most people would rather worry about Asteroids near Earth than the threat of Russia’s nuclear weapons and World War 3 . But how worried should we be?
Many people are not aware that close encounters of the rocky kind occur on a fairly routine basis. Asteroid 2014 DX110 supposedly posed no danger, but at the same time astronomers make these claims based upon statistical models, which can change drastically. For example, the estimated for the Apophis asteroid went from a relatively high chance (one in 40) of hitting us to odds that are still more likely than the top two hands in a poker game.
So what happens if an asteroid near Earth does hit us? Asteroid 2014 DX100 was “only” between 45 to 130 feet across, Asteroid 2014 EC was 33 feet, but size is only part of the equation. If you recall your basic physics class, then force equals mass multiplied by acceleration. So it really depends on the relative velocity of the space object when it impacts. For example, the Russian meteorite was only 17 meters when it hit Earth’s atmosphere and that injured 1,600 people.
Are you concerned that asteroids near Earth will eventually cause the end of the world as we know it?
[Image Via sathiyam.tv]
