The European Space Agency (ESA) has revealed that an asteroid named 2018 SV13 may hit the Earth in September 2020. According to the space agency, the rogue space rock has a "non-zero" probability of hitting the Earth. Considering its current trajectory, the ESA has featured it in its list of hazardous asteroids.
More Details About Asteroid 2018 SV13
The ESA has been maintaining an asteroid risk list for the past few years. It is basically an online database of space rocks that may hit the Earth in the near future. In the database, the ESA revealed that the asteroid has an estimated diameter of 131 feet.
The ESA predicted that the potentially hazardous asteroid will enter the Earth's atmosphere on September 22. During this time, the asteroid will be traveling at a neck-breaking speed of 44,000 miles per hour.
Will this Asteroid Hit the Earth's Surface?
Considering its size, the possibilities of the asteroid hitting the Earth are pretty low. However, space experts believe that the space rock will result in a mid-air explosion if it enters the Earth's atmosphere.
According to experts, the mid-air explosion will unleash energy equivalent to the explosion of multiple atom bombs. If such an explosion occurs, it may cause considerable damage to the area surrounding the blast.
The ESA believes that the chances of the asteroid causing a mid-air explosion are one out of 3.6 million. If the space rock misses the Earth this time, it will approach the blue planet for another flyby on August 14, 2022.
As threats from deep space loom, NASA is currently busy developing their planetary defense weapon to nudge asteroids from their original collision course. However, several space experts argue that nuking the asteroids could be the only possible solution to protect the Earth from a deep space impact. But nuking giant asteroids could result in radioactive rain which could threaten the existence of several life forms on the Earth.
