Asteroid 2018 VE4 to Pass Closest to Earth Tonight, NASA Issues Warning

A giant asteroid, dubbed as Asteroid 2018 VE4 by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), will make its closest appearance to Earth around 5:24 pm UTC (11:00 PM IST). This will mark asteroid's fifth visit to Earth after it first flew on September 1947, reported Express.co.uk. Will it be End of World? Dangerous Asteroids to Hit the Earth Could Wipeout our Existence.

The US space agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) estimated that the space rock will measure somewhere in the region of 23 metres to 50 metres (75.4ft to 164ft). Although it's not a planet killer but Nasa defined it as a potential danger for heavily populated areas. Doomsday Prediction: Asteroid AJ129 to Pass Closest to Earth on February 4, will it be The End of the World?

Earlier in 2013, an asteroid moving at speed of 19 km/sec (12miles/sec) stuck into the earth's atmosphere and exploded. The explosion took place only about 30 kilometres above the Russian city Chelyabinsk and carried 20 to 30 times more energy of Hiroshima bomb. The 65ft wide meteor's shockwave broke windows in the city and injured more than 1,500 people.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 30, 2018 08:36 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).