NASA predicted 'most dangerous asteroid in solar system' could hit earth in just over 150 years

Sorry I know we're one day away from Friday, but I thought I'd just let you know that an asteroid the size of the Empire State Building could hit the earth in just over 150 years.

NASA discovered the rare B-type asteroid back in 1999 and has dubbed it as one of the 'most dangerous' objects in the solar system.

The 1,614-foot-wide (492 meters) asteroid is big enough to cause significant destruction on Earth, and is capable of digging itself several miles down into the planet's surface.

This would most likely cause an earthquake spanning hundreds of miles of area from the impact location.

Thankfully, there are two important pieces of info here:

1) You'll be dead if/when it happens

2) There's a 1 in 2,700 chance of it actually happening

NASA

But if it does head to us, you best sure that NASA has over 150 years to get prepared for the rock - titled asteroid Bennu - with 24 September 2182 being the most likely due date.

While the chances of a strike have risen over the next century or two, NASA's improved probabilities come courtesy of its OSIRIS-REX spacecraft, which has been on a five-year mission to study Bennu up close and collect rock samples for scientists to study back home.

And after a length journey, NASA announced in December that a grain from the asteroid Bennu would be brought to Diamond Light Source, the UK’s national synchrotron, for scientific measurements.

The grain is from the 100 milligrams of sample sent to the Natural History Museum (NHM) in London, small fraction of the approximately 70 grams of Bennu rock.

This will not only provide new scientific data and new knowledge about the asteroid, but the origins of our solar system.

Pexels

Dr Ashley King, a planetary scientist from the Natural History Museum, said: “Although this sample is small, only a little larger than a grain of sand, it is more than enough to reveal a lot of information about our solar system.

“Diamond is key as it enables non-destructive testing of the samples, which is vital.

“The Bennu samples will be used to test theories that suggest asteroids like Bennu may have been involved in delivering key components to the young Earth system some 4.5 billion years ago.

“Potentially, it’s how we got the water in our oceans and some of the compounds that were necessary to kick-start life.

“Our experiments are focussed on understanding the mineralogy, composition and textures of the samples to be able to tell the story of Bennu’s history.

“Using DIAD (Dual Imaging And Diffraction) we’ll be able to explore the mineralogy of Bennu in 3D.”

Topics: NASA, Science

Anish Vij

Anish is a GG2 Young Journalist of the Year 2024 finalist. He has a Master's degree in Multimedia Journalism and a Bachelor's degree in International Business Management. Apart from that, his life revolves around the ‘Four F’s’ - family, friends, football and food. Email: [email protected]

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