Huge 3,000ft asteroid that would be like ‘all-out nuclear war’ if it hit Earth to skim past planet next week
AN ASTEROID that could cause mass destruction if it was to hit Earth will be skimming past our planet next week.
Nasa has confirmed the giant space rock's approach and will be keeping a close eye on all 3,280 feet of it.
Asteroid 2002 PZ39 is predicted to travel past our planet at speeds of more than 35,500 miles per hour.
It will be making what Nasa is calling a "close approach" on Saturday, February 15 at around around 11.05am GMT (6.05am EST)..
A space rock as big as this one has the potential to instantly kill millions on impact.
Famed doomsday asteroid Bennu is 1,680 foot smaller than 2002 PZ39 and even that would likely result in instant the vaporisation of anything in its path.
Experts think that such a large asteroid would have an impact similar to that of a major nuclear attack.
You would be killed instantly – before you even knew what was happening – if you happened to be in a one mile radius of the impact zone.
Fires, earthquakes and even tsunamis could even be caused as secondary effects.
NASA said: “We believe anything larger than one to two kilometres – one kilometre is a little more than one-half mile – could have worldwide effects.”
Luckily for us, the asteroid should miss us by more than 3.58 million miles.
However, any fast moving space object that comes within around 4.65 million miles is considered to be "potentially hazardous" by cautious space organisations.
What's the difference between an asteroid, meteor and comet?
Here's what you need to know, according to Nasa...
- Asteroid: An asteroid is a small rocky body that orbits the Sun. Most are found in the asteroid belt (between Mars and Jupiter) but they can be found anywhere (including in a path that can impact Earth)
- Meteoroid: When two asteroids hit each other, the small chunks that break off are called meteoroids
- Meteor: If a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere, it begins to vapourise and then becomes a meteor. On Earth, it'll look like a streak of light in the sky, because the rock is burning up
- Meteorite: If a meteoroid doesn't vapourise completely and survives the trip through Earth's atmosphere, it can land on the Earth. At that point, it becomes a meteorite
- Comet: Like asteroids, a comet orbits the Sun. However rather than being made mostly of rock, a comet contains lots of ice and gas, which can result in amazing tails forming behind them (thanks to the ice and dust vapourising)
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In other space news, Nasa has revealed what Earth would look like with no sea.
Eeire close-ups of Mars reveal the crash site of a doomed probe.
And, Elon Musk has revealed plans to put a million people on Mars by 2050.
What are your thoughts on this huge asteroid? Let us know in the comments...
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