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The mortal asteroid, larger than a two-story house, was named by NASA Asteroid 2018 WN. The huge space space is expected to fly over the Earth, making its appearance closest to that of our planet when it will pass at 11:49 GMT. Although astronomers at NASA have calculated that the asteroid is not on a trajectory that would run up against our world, its destructive potential is nevertheless impressive.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientists estimate that the asteroid measurements are between 12 and 28 meters (40 to 91 feet).
The 2018 WN asteroid may not mean the end of life on Earth as we know it, but even the lower part of NASA's estimate indicates a potential danger for heavily populated areas.
More than 1,000 people were injured in 2013 after a 20-meter-wide space rock erupted over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk.
The resulting impact broke the windows and sent shards of glass into the victim's body.
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According to Dr. Matija Cuk of Cornell University in New York, impacts with these smaller asteroids are rare and there are no known cases of death.
The space expert said: "As for the smaller meteorites that touch the ground, they represent a very low risk and no human being has ever been killed by a small meteorite.
"I heard that a dog had been killed by a meteorite that fell in 1911 in Nakhla, Egypt, and that there had been material damage.
"Nevertheless, traffic, pollution and even lightning are much more dangerous than small meteorites."
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Astronomers recently admitted the presence of undetected asteroids in our galaxy, some of which threaten life on Earth.
Researchers at the University of Madrid have attempted to calculate the probability of large asteroids breaking up into smaller pieces that would make love to our planet.
The products of "catastrophic" collisions are almost impossible to track because of their "chaotic orbits before impact".
And if a huge asteroid followed the Earth, there would be plenty of time to evacuate those who were in the line of fire.
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The researchers wrote: "Asteroids can deliver meteorites to inner planets when their paths intersect planets at the appropriate times, resulting in impact."
"On Earth, meteorites collected after the observation of bright fireballs have sometimes been temporarily traced back to the population of objects near Earth or to collision events in the belt of the Earth. Main asteroids. "
Scientists have discussed a recent impact of an object named 2018 LA, of a width between nine and twelve feet, which collided with the Earth just hours after its detection.
The asteroid reached the Earth's atmosphere at an altitude of 40,000 km / h, causing a terrifying fireball in the skies over Botswana.
"It was a much smaller object than we are tasked with detecting and warning," said Lindley Johnson, NASA's global defense officer.
In their new article, the two Spanish researchers warned that "only three natural objects have been discovered before colliding with the Earth".
It is possible that 2018 LA was formed during a massive collision between two or more rocks in the asteroid belt, which means that several meteors are en route.
The researchers discovered "more than two dozen" of asteroids that "look like" 2018 LA in terms of size, shape and orientation in the space.
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