ESA issues warning on stealthy asteroids that could annihilate a city



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Mankind does not need to fear gigantic asteroids large enough to erase us from the surface of the Earth, because they are easy to track because of their enormous size.

But we should be very afraid of small stealth asteroids – which are big enough to annihilate a city and extremely hard to detect.

Now, a scientist from the European Space Agency has revealed that astronomers have spotted only 1 of 100 space rocks that are 1km wide or less.

Small asteroids are much more difficult to spot and track than the big ones

NASA figures reveal that about 4,300 space rocks between 100 meters and 1 kilometer have been spotted to date

If ESA's predictions are correct, it could mean that There are actually 430,000 asteroids and we have no idea. Detlef Koschny, head of ESA's Near-Earth Objects team, said even small objects could cause significant damage.

A view of the devastation caused by the Tunguska explosion

Si If a Asteroid of 100 meters reached the Earth, it would cause significant damage in an area the size of Germany, and even affect the surrounding area. But asteroids of this size do not hit Earth very often. Maybe every 10,000 years on average, "he told Space Daily.

From 100 meters to 50 meters, the statistical frequency of strikes increases to once every 1,000 years. a century ago, in 1908, a 40 meter object struck the Earth above Tunguska, in Siberia, destroying a forest area the size of the metropolitan area of ​​Munich

"And if we went down to asteroids of 39, about 20 meters the asteroid that exploded on Chelyabinsk in Russia in 2013, which ended up hurting 1,500 people, on average every 10 to 100. We will certainly see something like this again in our lives . "

The asteroids pose a major threat to human civilization (Photo: Getty)

Last month NASA has warned of a "vulnerability" in the Earth 's defenses, which means there is only a "limited" chance of spotting asteroids coming from all over the world. some direction in the space.

Koschny supported this warning, saying that smaller objects are often spotted

If a large asteroid has been spotted so late, it may not give governments enough time to evacuate cities. the firing line.

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