A Large Asteroid Will Pass Earth – How Dangerous Is It?
This asteroid is called 2006 QQ23, and it is twice the size of London’s Shard. It’s a potentially dangerous asteroid that may cause a lot of damage if it hits Earth. Social media went nuts after hearing this. However, scientists insist that 2006 QQ23 will pass the planet without hitting it, and will go further away from the Moon, as well.
There was another asteroid who scientists believe that was responsible for the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event that happened 66 million years ago. We are talking about the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs.
NASA predicts that the asteroid will be at 5 million miles from Earth when it passes us.
This happens seven times a year
A NASA Planetary Defence Officer describes it to be “just barely into the zone that we start to keep closer track of these objects.” He then proceeded to say that there is nothing special about this. He said that there are asteroids of this size that pass at about 5 million miles away from Earth six, seven times a year. It happens all the time, but people don’t really realize this.
There is another more massive asteroid, of about 1,700 foot long that is expected to pass Earth later this year. It will come within 3.5 million miles of the planet on the 14th of September.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine was the one who previously warned us about how dangerous an asteroid collision could be. Even if a crash is not predicted over the next 100 years, he said that this could happen at every moment. He also said that this is not a movie and this is definitely not Hollywood. We need to remember that this is the only planet that can host life and that we need to take care of it.
As our second lead editor, Anna C. Mackinno provides guidance on the stories Great Lakes Ledger reporters cover. She has been instrumental in making sure the content on the site is clear and accurate for our readers. If you see a particularly clever title, you can likely thank Anna. Anna received a BA and and MA from Fordham University.
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