Asteroid so big ‘it could trigger EARTHQUAKES’ to skim past Earth before Christmas
29.05.2020 09:31
The 1.5-mile wide space rock – with the catchy name 2003 SD220 – is on a NASA warn list as astronomers believe it could cause "significant regional damage” if it strikes Earth.
A direct hit from the gigantic asteroid would be enough to destroy a whole continent – or worse.
The cosmic missile – which eerily coincides with conspiracy theories that a giant mysterious hidden planet called Nibiru will pass Earth this month – is not predicted to hit us.
But space boffins admit they are struggling to predict its path – as the gravity of other planets and stars are causing it to "wobble”.
2003 SD220 may be even bigger than current estimates as much of its bulk is obscured by the darkness of space.
A team from NASA and the Arecibo observatory in Peurto Rico are preparing to carry out specialist radar observations of the astral boulder as it nears Earth from mid December.
It is expected to miss us by 6.7 million miles – which is close in cosmic terms – but a radiative effect that subtly changes the orbits of asteroids, known as the "Yarkovsky Drift”, means could hurtle closer to Earth.
The Idea Girl Severe Storm Predictions Warnings website claims its gravitational pull on Earth could trigger earthquakes or volcanoes – but there is no evidence of this from NASA.
But the US space agency is watching the asteroid carefully.
It said: "These objects are monitored by NASA with contributions from others including amateurs.
"The reason they can become hazardous is that their trajectory can variate due to gravitational fields from planets or stars, or other objects."
An giant asteroid skimmed past Earth at Halloween as we appear bombarded from deep space.
NASA has admitted it is preparing a disaster action plan – straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster – to knock away space objects heading for Earth, like a game of cosmic billiards.
(dailystar.co.uk)
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