As threats of a possible scare from the space loom up, NASA, the United States space agency is now busy tracking near-earth objects that could hit the earth in the future. The space agency is now maintaining a database known as Sentry, and it provides details about all asteroids that apparently pose a threat to the existence of humanity.
Asteroid 2019 ND7 and 2019 WG2 heading toward earth
It was on last July that NASA discovered a giant asteroid named 2019 ND7. This doomsday rock is more than 200 meters wide, and a potential hit on the planet could wipe out a city within a fraction of a second. Experts believe that a potential collision with 2019 ND7 will unleash energy equivalent to more than 1,000 atomic bombs exploded in Hiroshima during World War II, and millions of people will lose life instantly.
However, the chances of asteroid 2019 ND7 hitting the earth are very small. The United States space agency has calculated the risk at 1 in 310,000, which means there is a 99.99968 chance that this dangerous space rock will miss the earth. 2019 WG2 is a small asteroid when compared to 2019 ND7.
The asteroid is 35 meters wide, and NASA has calculated the risk at 1 in 4,000. As per NASA, 2019 ND7 may crash into the earth between 2097-2117 on 20 different occasions. On the other hand, 2019 WG2 may hit between 2098 and 2119 on 56 different occasions.
Doomsday asteroids will wipe out life off the earth's surface
A few months back, Dr Iain McDonald, a top space expert had warned that doomsday asteroid hits will happen in the future. As per McDonald, devastating events like asteroid hits are not confined to the past, and it may happen in the future too. Popular American physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson also shares a similar opinion. Tyson believes that life on the earth will be wiped off following a dreaded asteroid hit.
