An asteroid measuring 1.3 kilometers across will have a close brush with Earth on Thursday, May 14, and it will fly past our planet closer than previous monsters that have caused worldwide panic.
Collision with this asteroid an eighth of Mount Everest's size could be catastrophic. It could lead to earthquakes and possibly massive extinction. If it would happen, such incident would be more destructive compared with the 1908 Tunguska Event, which involved a 50-meter lump of alien rock that hurled into Siberia.
It flattened about 80 million trees and caused a shock wave measuring 5 on the Richter scale across the country. One astronomer likewise believes that such impact would kill a large share of the global population.
"It would undoubtedly lead to the deaths of around 1.5 billion people, we are looking at a mass extinction of humanity," said University of Buckinghamshire professor of astronomy Bill Napier.
He added that if the asteroid strikes the sea, the event could destroy the ozone layer resulting in unrestricted sunlight hitting Earth and the sky heating up strong enough it can burn vegetation.
It appears, however, that there is no reason to worry about such a catastrophic event. 1999 FN53, as the asteroid is called, is expected to safely pass by our planet. It is not even listed on NASA's Near Earth Objects risk table, which identifies objects with impact probabilities.
The asteroid, which is currently the biggest object on NASA's near Earth radar, was first discovered in March 1999.It is expected to speed past Earth at nearly 14 kilometers per second or about twice a space rocket's speed at liftoff. The asteroid will fly by at a distance of 26.4 lunar distances, which is about 10 million kilometers.
The 1999 FN53 is not the first and last asteroid to get near our planet. Two years ago, the 300-meter Apophis asteroid flew by Earth at proximity of 14 million kilometers. Another brush with a large lump of extraterrestrial rock is also predicted by NASA on June 16. Dubbed Icarus, the asteroid has a one-kilometer diameter and has speed thrice as that of 1999 FN53. It will also get nearer our planet at a distance of a mere 21 lunar distances.
Another bigger asteroid measuring up to 2.3 kilometers in diameter is also expected to fly by at a distance of 18.8 lunar distances and at as speed of 20 km/sec.
