https://www.ccn.com/forget-coronavirus-this-earth-destroyer-asteroid-could-kill-you-first/
Forget Coronavirus: This ‘Earth Destroyer’ Asteroid Could Kill You First
In a year of global threats like coronavirus, the killer asteroid hurting toward Earth this Saturday is a dreadful reminder of space dangers.
Author:
W. E. Messamore @thehuli
Don't worry about coronavirus. A "killer asteroid" could wipe out life on Earth long before the epidemic. | Source: Dima Zel/Shutterstock.com
- As if the coronavirus plague isn’t terrifying enough, the Earth will cross paths with a planet-destroying asteroid this Saturday.
- It’s larger than the tallest building on Earth, and big enough to trigger a major impact event, nuclear winter, and mass extinctions.
- NASA has officially classified the planet killer as a “Potentially Hazardous Asteroid” (PHA). It will miss by just 0.038 astronomical units.
In a recent poll, a majority of New Hampshire Democrats said
they’d rather a meteor extinguish all human life on Earth than Donald Trump win reelection. Just 36% of Democrats held their nose and picked Trump over the end of humanity.
The other 64% said bring on the meteor!
Faced with a choice between an apocalyptic meteor strike and another four years of Trump, most New Hampshire Democrats chose Armageddon. | Source:
TIME
Well, the Giant Meteor 2020 crowd could get their wish.
As if
the worsening coronavirus pandemic isn’t terrifying enough, NASA says a giant, “potentially hazardous asteroid” will cross within 0.038 astronomical units of Earth.
The asteroid has a diameter of 3,250 feet. That’s bigger than the tallest building on Earth – the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It will
cross Earth’s path this Saturday at 6:05 am EST.
The giant space object is simply named “163373 (2002 PZ39).” It’s what astronomers call an “Apollo” asteroid. These are asteroids with a path that crosses Earth’s orbit.