According to NASA, the asteroid is non-threatening.
In what may first appear to be a dramatic climax to the great tragedy of 2020, NASA reports that the asteroid heading to Earth this November, just in time for Election Day, does not pose a threat.
When reports first hit the airwaves the other day about an asteroid projected to hit Planet Earth in early November, the tone was quite apocalyptic — with what’s happened thus far this year, it’s hard to blame them. But NASA’s most recent reports show that the asteroid has only a .41% chance of hitting Earth.
Asteroid 2018VP1 is very small at approximately 6.5 feet — not quite Armageddon-like dimensions. According to NASA, the not-quite-blockbuster-sized asteroid “poses no threat to Earth”.
“Scientists estimate it has only 0.41 percent chance of entering our atmosphere. If it does, it will disintegrate due to its extremely small size,” NASA wrote in a small blurb on its website.
The asteroid was first spotted by Palomar Observatory in California back in 2018. NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies later reported that the low-flying asteroid could potentially land in the Earth’s atmosphere. But as mentioned, that percentage is low with high probability of disintegration before impact.
The news might disappoint a few stargazers, who were impressed by the stellar sightings of the NEOWISE comet throughout the months of July and August. Sorry, guys, that ship has sailed and won’t be back until July 28, 2061.
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[Featured image: @chrishenryphoto via Unsplash]