After 63 years, an asteroid could hit Earth

The European Space Agency (ESA) keeps a risk list of rocks that can come dangerously close to the earth. Now an asteroid has been added to it, which could hit in the year 2084.

It is the list of “ It could be ” - and now another celestial body has been added. In order to protect the earth from the impacts of asteroids, the European Space Agency ( ESA) observes space and catalogs corresponding rocks. As the US medium " International Business Times " reports, a new, potentially dangerous object has now been added to the risk list: Asteroid 2019 SU3.

Although the rock is relatively small - it is only 14 meters in diameter - it could still cause a lot of damage if it hit the earth. Much more worrying is its relatively high impact probability, which is 1: 152

In other words, in one out of 152 cases the chunk actually hits. As the " Business Times " reports, the asteroid is therefore in fourth place on the list and is therefore a relatively dangerous object. SU3 was discovered 2019 on September 23, 2019.

Read this also: New hidden world in Earth's inner core

The celestial body could collide with the earth on September 16, 2084. At that time, it should approach the earth within up to 120,000 kilometers - according to the forecasts. It remains to be seen whether the asteroid will simply fly by at this distance or collide with the earth. Because 2019 SU3 orbits extensively around the earth, in the coming decades it will cross the orbits of Mercury, Mars, and Venus. Its gravitational force could steer it toward earth - or in a completely different direction. Around 40 years earlier, asteroid 2019 SU3 will also approach our planet on July 6, 2038. But then the distance should be a proud ten million kilometers.

253 Mathilde, a C-type asteroid measuring about 50 km (30 mi) across, covered in craters half that size. The photograph was taken in 1997 by the NEAR Shoemaker probe | Image by NASA, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In addition to the ESA, NASA is also concerned with dangerous celestial bodies; according to the US media, it is already testing various scenarios, such as shelling, in order to dissuade the rocks from a collision course.

In any case, SU3 would not cause a global catastrophe in 2019, but locally it could lead to deaths or injuries. On February 15, 2013, a meteorite exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk. According to media reports, 1200 people were injured at the time.

The meteorite that hit the earth's atmosphere at that time had a diameter of 20 meters, i.e. it was larger than 2019 SU3. It was only in September of this year that European Space Agency (ESA) pointed out that a large number of asteroids could be expected over Europe in the coming decades. A total of 899 asteroids are currently on the risk list and are being monitored by the space agency.