Doomsday in 2 Days? 62-feet-long Asteroid '2018 PN22' to Pass by Earth on August 17
On August 17 at 7:16 pm, an asteroid 2018 PN22 will be passing by the planet. Since the rock will not hit the earth, there is no direct damage, but asteroids can cause tsunamis, shock waves and winds that can result in a catastrophe.
Several space rocks are flying by the planet earth each day. And while there are many asteroids collisions that have already taken place over the years, a giant space rock named 2018 PN22 is approaching the Earth. On August 17 at 7:16 pm, an asteroid 2018 PN22 will be passing by the planet. Since the rock will not hit the earth, there is no direct damage, but asteroids can cause tsunamis, shock waves and winds that can result in a catastrophe. Every big asteroid flyby that's about to hit the earth has certain news of doomsday around. But 2018 PN22 has nothing to worry about. Will it be End of World? Dangerous Asteroids to Hit the Earth Could Wipeout our Existence.
The orbit of this small asteroid could bring it in close proximity of the Earth. It has been classified as "Near Earth Asteroid" by NASA JPL because of its orbit's proximity to our planet. It was last observed on September 7, 2018. It is moving at the velocity of 5,000 miles per hour. The rock will fly from a distance of 0.04385 astronomical units which is roughly 4 million miles away so there is no potential danger from this asteroid flyby. World Asteroid Day 2019: History, Interesting Facts and Significance of the Global Event Celebrated on June 30.
Every year there are dozens of asteroids that flyby the Earth and its atmosphere but not all are noticed. These flybys do not cause any damage but their remains often make it to the surface as meteorites. Last month, on July 24, three massive asteroids passed by the Earth's surface much closer than that of our satellite, moon. The closest asteroid was 2019 OD, closer to the earth than the moon.
Watch Video of 3 Massive Asteroids Flyby in July:
After the 2019 PN22 asteroid, another flyby of asteroid 2016PD1 will take place on August 26. This is a 361-feet asteroid that is heading towards the earth at 13,100 miles per hour. NASA has said an asteroid named 2019 OU1 will approach the earth at August 28, 5:37 am ST from a close distance.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 15, 2019 03:46 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).