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The 2019 OK asteroid passed July 25, 2019 beyond our original planet, approaching Earth from a distance of only 65,000 km (45,360 km). The overflight of the asteroids surprised the world because it appeared only the day before on our radars. Measuring between 190 and 426 feet wide, the space rock contained the potential to annihilate an entire city, killing thousands. Unfortunately, a scientist warned that there are even larger asteroids that could end human life on Earth as we know it.
Dr. Anna Łosiak of the Polish Academy of Sciences told the Polish News Agency (PAP): "If the asteroid had touched the Earth, a crater of 2 km to 4 km in diameter and 100 m deep would have appeared. "
The crater would have been larger than the famous Arizona Meteor Crater, which formed 50,000 years ago.
The crater is evidence of a 50 meter wide (50 m) wide space rock striking the planet with force.
Dr. Łosiak, an associate researcher at Exeter University, is studying impact craters to better understand the dangers associated with asteroids.
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Asteroid Shock: An asteroid nearly missed the Earth on July 25 of this year (Image: GETTY)
Asteroid Shock: A rock of a width of 24 meters created this great crater of impact 50,000 years ago in Arizona (Image: GETTY)
She said, "I want to understand how dangerous these phenomena are.
It is crucial to avoid a tragedy
"So, if we know, for example, that an asteroid measuring 50 m in diameter will reach a specific point of the Earth in three days, then we should know if we have to evacuate people from a radius of five kilometers (100 km), 100 km (62 miles) or 10,000 km (6,200 miles) radius.It is essential to avoid a tragedy. "
If an asteroid such as 2019 OK had hit the Earth, the radius of the immediate blast would have been one of many worries to follow.
The force of the impact would have rained debris the size of a block "faster than bullets" over an area of 35,000 square kilometers (13,000 square miles).
READ MORE: A space rock comparable to the dinosaur killer is heading towards the Earth
The asteroid would also have created a shockwave traveling to the outside on "hundreds of kilometers".
The asteroid expert said: "Most witnesses would have seen it as a very violent wind breaking trees and throwing windows."
A larger asteroid, measuring about 10 km in diameter, would have adverse effects on a global scale.
About 65 million years ago, an asteroid hit the Yucatan Peninsula in modern Mexico.
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The impact triggered a chain reaction of events that culminated in a nuclear winter and the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Dr. Łosiak argued that a repeat of the incident today could very well lead to the end of human civilization.
She said, "It was a very unfortunate event for the dinosaurs.
"The rocks on which the asteroid landed released a lot of carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide, which caused severe climate disruption on the planet. A nuclear winter has begun.
Fortunately, the world's leading space agency, NASA, does not know of any asteroids or comets that could cause this level of destruction in the near future.
Asteroid shock: an asteroid destroys dinosaurs 65 million years ago (Image: GETTY)
Asteroidal Shock: NASA does not know of any major asteroid about to hit the Earth (Image: GETTY)
NASA said, "In the last 1,000 years, no human being would have been killed by a meteorite or by the effects of an impact.
"The chances that an individual is killed by a meteorite are low, but the risk increases with the size of the comet or the impacting asteroid, the greatest risk associated with global disasters resulting from the impacts. objects of more than one kilometer.
"NASA does not know any asteroid or comet currently colliding with the Earth. The probability of a major collision is therefore very low.
"In fact, as far as we can judge, no large object is likely to hit Earth at any time in the next few centuries."
Some facts about asteroids and comets:
1. NASA tracks asteroids and comets crossing the Earth through its Center for Near-Earth Objects (CNEOS).
2. There are currently 796,541 known asteroids and 3,586 known comets.
3. Asteroids fly almost daily on Earth, but very few of them represent a real threat to our security.
4. Asteroids and comets are the remnants of the formation of our solar system 4.6 billion years ago.
5. The Italian priest Giuseppe Piazzi was the first to discover Ceres in 1801 – a rocky body now classified as a dwarf planet.
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