Although smaller asteroids approach Earth almost every day, larger asteroids rarely do. Even if asteroids come close to Earth, they’re safe or most of them will burn up in the planet’s very atmosphere. An asteroid called Asteroid 2020 FV4 has recently received a lot of attention from space agencies around the world as it is poised to approach Earth today. The Near-Earth Object Observation Program, commonly referred to as the “Space Guardians”, discovered these objects, characterized a small group of them, and determined their orbits to determine if Are there any objects that could be dangerous to our planet?
NASA has now issued a warning against a small planet will make a very close approach to Earth today, March 13.
Asteroid details 2020 FV4
NASA has red flaged an asteroid called Asteroid 2020 FV4 due to its very close approach to the planet. This asteroid will make its closest approach to Earth today, March 13, at a speed of 6.7 million km/h. It is on its way towards the planet moving at a terrifying speed of nearly 29350 km/h!
Asteroid 2020 FV4 is particularly worrisome due to its enormous size. At 92 feet wide, the asteroid is roughly the size of an airplane, NASA says. Although this asteroid is not expected to collide with Eartha slight deviation in its orbit due to Earth’s gravity could cause the asteroid to plunge towards Earth for an impact.
Previous Asteroid Impacts on Earth
In spite of small planet has passed safely close to Earth over the past few months, that doesn’t mean there’s no possibility of a collision with the planet. In fact, an asteroid was the cause behind the extinction of one of the largest species on the planet nearly 65 million years ago – the dinosaurs.
According to Alvarez’s hypothesis, the extinction was caused by a large asteroid that crashed into Earth more than 65 million years ago. The asteroid shaped the planet and was likely responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs. Scientists have even found the asteroid’s impact crater in Chicxulub, near the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
And a few years ago, the Chelyabinsk incident happened and before that, the Tunguska incident. The largest asteroid that hit Earth was about 2 billion years ago, and it left the Vredefort crater near Johannesburg, South Africa.
