2020 so far did it best to people keep glued to their homes and brought enough trouble in various forms. At a time when COVID-19 continues to pose a threat, theories of doomsday date is flying thick and fast. Reportedly, an asteroid, the size of a Boeing-747 jet plane is likely to cross the Earth's orbit on Wednesday. Centre for Near-Earth Objects at NASA revealed that it has been tracking asteroid 2020 RK2 for a few weeks now. Hurtling through space at a speed of 6.68 kilometres per second, equal to 14,942 miles per house, it is expected to collide on October 7. The asteroid is 36m to 81 m in diameter and almost 118-256 foot. However, NASA says that there is nothing much to worry about this rocky object as it won't be harmful to the Earth. The chances of it causing any real damage is "extremely unlikely". The asteroid was spotted by astrologers last month. Close Miss! Car-Sized Asteroid 2020 QG Flew Past The Earth on Weekend Without Getting Noticed by Scientists; Know If It Was Doomsday-Inducing Event?

The asteroid will be hurtling past Earth at about 1:12 PM Eastern Standard time (EST) or 6:12 PM British Summertime. Although, the asteroid will be rushing past Earth at a distance of 38,27,797.34 kilometres away, it is close enough to be considered a near-Earth object (NEO). According to the space agency, it is estimated that several dozens of asteroids fly “near” Earth each year. However, most of them are much smaller than 2020 RK2 and hardly touch the Earth’s orbit. Also, most of them simply fly past our planet undetected.  Asteroid 1998 OR2 Has Safely Passed by The Earth Today, Watch Video of Huge Space Rock Flying Past The Planet,

“NEOs are comets and asteroids that have been nudged by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into orbits that allow them to enter the Earth’s neighbourhood,” NASA explains. Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun. Most of the asteroids are found between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. According to scientists, a large number of these asteroids were formed about 4.5 billion years ago.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 06, 2020 08:44 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).