OCTOBER 19, 2020
A 1,000-foot asteroid will swing by, but miss, Earth
A 6.5-foot asteroid will zoom past Earth just before Election Day but astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson says it’s nothing to worry about.
“Asteroid 2018VP1, a refrigerator-sized space-rock, is hurtling towards us at more than 40,000 km/hr. It may buzz-cut Earth on Nov 2, the day before the Presidential Election,” he said.
NASA has previously said it has a 0.41% chance of entering our atmosphere.
“It’s not big enough to cause harm. So if the World ends in 2020, it won’t be the fault of the Universe,” Tyson said.
NASA has been tracking the asteroid since it was discovered in 2018 by the Zwicky Transient Facility at Palomar Observatory in California. They’ve been monitoring its progress and found it was likely to be near Earth on Nov. 2.
In August, news of the 6.5-foot asteroid’s approach spread due to its proximity to Election Day in the United States.
NASA, through an official social media account dedicated to asteroid observation, dispelled the notion.
According to NASA, 2018VP1 poses “no threat” to Earth.
“It currently has a 0.41% chance of entering our planet’s atmosphere, but if it did, it would disintegrate due to its extremely small size,” NASA said.
Asteroid 2018VP1 is very small, approx. 6.5 feet, and poses no threat to Earth! It currently has a 0.41% chance of entering our planet’s atmosphere, but if it did, it would disintegrate due to its extremely small size.
— NASA Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) August 23, 2020
Courtesy/Source: USA Today
