430-Foot Asteroid to Pass by Earth Next Week, But Experts Claim There's No Need to Worry

A 430-foot asteroid called 1994 WR12 is scheduled to pass into Earth's orbital path early next week, according to NASA.

According to NASA, the asteroid will be visible in the sky between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. In California.

Carolyn S. Shoemaker, an American astronomer, discovered the massive space rock on November 28, 1994, at the Palomar Observatory, somewhat larger than an American football field.

The ways near-Earth objects (NEOs) on a probable collision track with Earth may be deflected away, averting disastrous impact occurrences, are referred to as asteroid impact avoidance.

A sufficiently big asteroid or other NEO impact would result in catastrophic tsunamis or numerous firestorms, as well as an impact winter produced by the sunlight-blocking effect of large amounts of pulverized rock dust and other debris, pushed into the stratosphere, depending on the impact location.

The Chicxulub crater is estimated to have formed 66 million years ago when the Earth collided with an object about 10 kilometers (6 miles) wide. This impact is supposed to have initiated the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event, which is thought to have wiped off most dinosaurs.

Likelihood

While the likelihood of a significant collision in the near future is minimal, it is almost guaranteed that one will occur soon unless defensive measures are adopted.

Recent astronomical occurrences, such as the Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacts on Jupiter and the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor, have re-ignited interest in such risks, as has the expanding number of items on the Sentry Risk Table.

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