NASA tracks huge Christmas Day asteroid heading for Earth at 22,000 mph



[ad_1]

Forget Santa Claus, someone wrote a letter to Bruce Willis! A massive Christmas Day asteroid is heading toward Earth at 22,000 mph.

This is the most wonderful time of the year … or, if it weren’t for the current pandemic, the general unhappiness of 2020 and the crippling sense of dread that has ruminated pretty much all of the world. year.

Christmas will be a little different this time around. We will all need to make changes to our usual and probably hectic festivities. Smaller houses, waving outside houses rather than hugs. Oh, to sweeten things up, there’s also a giant asteroid heading our way.

It’s wild above the atmosphere, up there in the great unknown, with asteroids flying toward Earth at swift and rapid speeds. It happens all the time, although it would be a great cause for concern if someone were to risk colliding directly with Earth, they usually fly right in front of us. Sometimes meteorites fall to the surface, but they rarely cause damage or major damage.

We are expecting a number of asteroids until Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve, a small asteroid will pass at a distance of 733,288 miles.

However, as we open all of our gifts and chocolate throats and maybe enjoy a little drink, a mighty boulder will cross our planet.

The beautifully titled asteroid 501647 (2014 SD224) will pass Earth on December 25 at 8:20 p.m. EST, around 1:20 a.m. GMT. It has a diameter of 92 to 210 m – so it could be larger than the Seattle Space Needle.

It is currently traveling at over 22,000 mph. For reference, it’s over 10 times faster than a .50 caliber bullet, 16 times faster than Concorde, and 791 times faster than Usain Bolt crossing the sky.

Unfortunately for astronomers, don’t expect to see 501647 flying above the clouds like Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Day. It won’t be visible from Earth, so don’t worry about closing your eyes, falling asleep, and missing a thing.

You would probably have a better chance of seeing Santa as he completes his deliveries, as the asteroid will be 1,877,410 miles away from us.

The only Deep impact we have to worry about this Christmas is the emotional turmoil of existing on Earth.

[ad_2]

Source link