Asteroid 2020 ND to Make Close Approach To The Earth on July 24, Is It Dangerous or Will it Bring Doomsday?

There's another space rock coming at the earth. Well, not exactly towards the Earth but a close flyby in astronomical units. Called the Asteroid 2020ND it will make its flyby past Earth tomorrow ie July 24. Now is it dangerous? Will it cause any doomsday potential? These are some of the questions that arise because we have read of so many crises on the planet this year. But no 2020ND is a huge space rock but it is not causing any danger to the planet. We tell you more about this potentially hazardous asteroid.

NASA gave a warning for 2020ND almost a week ago. This asteroid is said to be bigger than the London Eye, almost about 170 metres. It will pass on July 24 and in its closest approach, this huge space rock will come within just 0.034 astronomical units (AU) of our planet. That means about 5,086,327 kilometres from our planet, which falls in the potential hazardous category by space agencies. It is travelling at a speed of 13.5 kilometres per second or 48,000 kilometres per hour.

Is it Dangerous?

NASA keeps a tab on not all but many objects in space which are in and around our planet. It has made a list of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) based on the certain distance from the planet these objects come within. It could be meteoroids, asteroids or just space debris. For an asteroid to be a potentially hazardous one, it has to be within a minimum orbit intersection distance (MOID) of 0.05 au or less. Keeping a tab on these objects and studying their path helps them understand if there will be any potential threat in the near future to the planet.

A lot of believe in theories of an asteroid crash bringing the end of the planet one day. But scientists have said time and again there is a lesser possibility for such a strikeout of earth and its civilization. So if you come across any doomsday reports for tomorrow know that it is not true. Asteroid 2020ND will safely pass by across the planet.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 23, 2020 09:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).