An asteroid thought to be up to 50 metres in diameter is expected to
make a close shave with our planet on Saturday, although scientists are
not sure just how close.
However, it is thought to be unlikely that “2013 TX68”, as it is known, will collide with the earth.
Euronews’ Jeremy Wilks spoke to a scientist at the European Space Agency, Michael Khan, an expert in asteroids and space debris.
Wilks: “To what extent does this asteroid pose a threat now?”
Khan: “The problem with this asteroid is that we don’t know much about it. We know approximately what its orbit is. We don’t even know how big it is, we know it’s somewhere between 20 and 50 metres in diameter. But we know the orbit to the extent that it allows us to say that it won’t hit the earth in March 2016 and we will have two encounters in this century and there it probably won’t hit the earth either.”
Wilks: “What would happen if an asteroid of that kind of size hit the earth?”
Khan: “This is kind of ‘iffy’. It’s likely – if it’s on the smaller end of this range of diameters – that it would just explode in the atmosphere, like the one in Chelyabinsk a few years back, over Chelyabinsk, that exploded and caused some damage but luckily no casualties. But it might conceivably hit the surface and make a hole and then you would be looking at really a real problem, damage and possibly also lots of people killed.”
Wilks: “In general, to what extent are asteroids a threat to us now?”
Khan: “Asteroids have always been a threat to the earth. If you look at the surface of the earth, it’s pockmarked with impacts. But luckily the larger the impacts are, the more damage they incurred, the less frequently they happen. So it’s not a very likely thing to happen but if a big impact happens it might have consequences that entail the end of civilisation as we know it. But that’s not a likely thing to happen. Everything depends on the size of the asteroid. So if you’re talking about something that has a kilometre in diameter then that would have global consequences.”
Read more: Asteroid about to make a close shave with earth … but how close? | euronews, world news
However, it is thought to be unlikely that “2013 TX68”, as it is known, will collide with the earth.
Euronews’ Jeremy Wilks spoke to a scientist at the European Space Agency, Michael Khan, an expert in asteroids and space debris.
Wilks: “To what extent does this asteroid pose a threat now?”
Khan: “The problem with this asteroid is that we don’t know much about it. We know approximately what its orbit is. We don’t even know how big it is, we know it’s somewhere between 20 and 50 metres in diameter. But we know the orbit to the extent that it allows us to say that it won’t hit the earth in March 2016 and we will have two encounters in this century and there it probably won’t hit the earth either.”
Wilks: “What would happen if an asteroid of that kind of size hit the earth?”
Khan: “This is kind of ‘iffy’. It’s likely – if it’s on the smaller end of this range of diameters – that it would just explode in the atmosphere, like the one in Chelyabinsk a few years back, over Chelyabinsk, that exploded and caused some damage but luckily no casualties. But it might conceivably hit the surface and make a hole and then you would be looking at really a real problem, damage and possibly also lots of people killed.”
Wilks: “In general, to what extent are asteroids a threat to us now?”
Khan: “Asteroids have always been a threat to the earth. If you look at the surface of the earth, it’s pockmarked with impacts. But luckily the larger the impacts are, the more damage they incurred, the less frequently they happen. So it’s not a very likely thing to happen but if a big impact happens it might have consequences that entail the end of civilisation as we know it. But that’s not a likely thing to happen. Everything depends on the size of the asteroid. So if you’re talking about something that has a kilometre in diameter then that would have global consequences.”
Read more: Asteroid about to make a close shave with earth … but how close? | euronews, world news
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