Mega asteroid races to Earth at 56,000 km / h – Science

According to media reports, the Asteroid 2002 PZ39 is currently racing at over 56,000 km / h and will closely cross its orbit on Saturday.

The rock is expected to arrive at around 12.05 p.m. (Central European Time CET). The US space agency Nasa estimates the enormous asteroid up to a kilometer in diameter and issued a warning.

According to Nasa, every asteroid with such a size has the potential to kill millions of people on Earth if it strikes.

“Potentially dangerous”

“We believe anything larger than a mile or two could have a global impact,” said the US space agency. Nasa is not only worried about the enormous size of the boulder, but also its proximity to earth.

We’ve seen some incorrect stories on #asteroid 2002 PZ39 circulating. The trajectory of this asteroid is very well known. It will safely pass Earth at a distance of 5.77 million km (3.59 million miles), about 15 times the distance of the Moon.— Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) February 13, 2020

The distance to Earth is estimated at 5.8 million kilometers, which is 15 times the distance from the moon. One possible scenario is that if the rock changes its trajectory, it could cause serious damage in the event of a collision.

The asteroid 2002 PZ39 was therefore classified as “potentially dangerous”.

Low risk

Like the online portal “Future Zone” reported, the risk of an unpredictable collision in the case of the giant asteroid, of which the exact orbit is known, is practically zero.

Nevertheless, it has already happened that particularly small objects from space are not recognized. Such a case only occurred in 2013.

At that time, a meteorite exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, nearly 1,500 people were injured, 7,000 buildings were damaged.

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