On September 24, a bus-sized asteroid named 2020 SW zipped past earth at a very close distance. During its close approach, the asteroid was just 13,000 miles away from the earth's surface, and it is widely considered one of the closest approach in recent times.
Tiny Asteroid That Zipped Past Earth
NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) revealed that the asteroid had a diameter of just 30 feet. Even if such an asteroid enters the earth's atmosphere, it will burn up and will not create any impact on the planet's surface.
"There are a large number of tiny asteroids like this one, and several of them approach our planet as close as this several times every year. In fact, asteroids of this size impact our atmosphere at an average rate of about once every year or two," said Dr Paul Chodas, the director of CNEOS.
After the close approach that happened Thursday, Sept 24 of the asteroid 2020 SW that continued its journey around the sun, expectations are high that it would again pose threat in close vicinity of the earth in 2041.
A Big Asteroid on the Way
In the meantime, a section of conspiracy theorists has started arguing that the recent rise in the number of asteroids that make close approaches is indicating at the fact that a big space rock is on the way to hit the earth.
According to these conspiracy theorists, NASA is well aware of the deadly asteroid that is currently headed toward the earth, but the space agency is intentionally covering up the facts about this doomsday space rock to avoid public panic.
Will Doomsday Asteroid Hit Earth?
It was around 66 million years ago that a giant asteroid hit the earth and resulted in the extinction of dinosaurs. Even though such an event has never repeated, several space experts including Dr Iain McDonald believe that deadly events like asteroid hits are not confined to the past.
Popular physicist Neil deGrasse Tyson had also shared similar views, and he also believes that the doomsday event on earth could be triggered most probably due to an asteroid hit.
