A humongous Asteroid 2024 YR4, popularly known as “city killer,” is making headlines as the space rock has 0.28% chance of striking Earth in 2032. It is time to know are there any other celestial objects in the extra-terrestrial space that collide with Earth and how often does that happen.
According to US space agency, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Earth is bombarded with more than 100 tons of dust and sand-sized particles every day. Almost every year, a huge asteroid equal to the size of an automobile strikes Earth’s atmosphere and creates an impressive fireball. Notably, it burns and is devoured before reaching the surface.
NASA indicates that a humongous meteoroid, as large as a football field hits Earth once in every 2,000 years and causes significant damage to the impact area. One of the notable incidents in history date back to 1908 when an asteroid measuring almost 40m exploded over Siberia. In the explosion that spread over 200 square miles, not only buildings were damaged, but people also suffered injuries.
- Global devastation is likely when an asteroid measuring 1000m strikes the Earth, which is possible once in 500,000 years, NASA said.
- Mass extinctions occur when 10,000m size asteroid hits the Earth’s surface, possible once in 100 million to 200 million years.
- As per estimates asteroid YR4 is about 90m in size, which would substantially remain intact rather than break up as it enters the Earth’s atmosphere.
Over asteroid YR4 and Earth collision, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Professor Kathryn Kunamoto said, “The surviving asteroid mass could create a crater. Structures in the immediate vicinity would likely be destroyed and people within the local region (dozens of kilometers) would be at risk of serious injury,” BBC reported.
When did scientists explore space objects close to Earth?
Close monitoring of space objects near Earth began in the 20th century. Until then, “We were blissfully oblivious to them,” BBC quoted University of New Mexico Professor Mark Boslough as saying.
French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) professor Patrick Michel, who tracked the most hazardous asteroid Apophis said, “We didn’t know what to do. We discovered something, we determined an impact probability, and then thought, who do we call?” referring to the time when the space rock was discovered, BBC reported. During those days, scientists and governments had no idea how to respond, Patrick Michel said.
Calculations of Apophis’ trajectory become precise by 2013 which enabled scientists to understand that it was not going to hit Earth.
