End of The World? Massive Killer Asteroid Heading Towards Earth, Experts Warn

A killer asteroid with devastating force of 3 billion nuclear bombs will possibly hit Earth, a Chinese astronomer warns. The asteroid was detected by Zhao Haibin, an astronomer from the Purple Mountain Observatory in Nanjing, China, using China's largest telescope.

Daily Star quoted Haibin in an interview saying how the technology has helped astronomers in identifying probable threats to the solar system.

"With the help of our images, astronomers across the globe have a more accurate moving trajectory of the asteroid," Haibin said. The report added that the asteroid can lead to an extinction level event, leaving the entirety of Earth toasted.

According to IB Times, the asteroid called 2009ES measures 10 miles in width. Despite the destruction it would dawn upon the planet, experts cannot determine where and when exactly it will hit Earth. However, based on the images captured by the 1.2-meter Schmidt telescope camera, it is estimated to pass within 18.8 lunar distances.

Inquistr stated that 2009ES is one of 1,640 near-Earth asteroids, called "minor bodies," that are moving towards the planet. The asteroid was first detected in 2009. Because of the dreadful and misleading estimates that it will hit the earth on September 2015, NASA released a statement saying that it would not hit the Earth within a few hundred years.

"There is no scientific basis -- not one shred of evidence -- that an asteroid or any other celestial object will impact Earth on those dates," Paul Chodas, manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object office, said at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

During the discussion of NASA's planned Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) held on Sept. 14, John Holdren, U.S. President Barack Obama's chief science adviser, said Earth is not well-prepared for an asteroid strike, adding that there are more things to do to make the planet less vulnerable to such a catastrophic event.

Scientists are closely monitoring the movement of 2009ES. Any changes on its path could have potential impacts on Earth because of its massive size.