Thousands of asteroids are present in the orbital space around Earth. However, few of them are of such a size that they pose a real threat to our planet. Among these is 2013 TV135, an asteroid which recently passed Earth at a close distance.
According to NASA’s estimates, the same asteroid is expected to pass by our planet yet again in 19 years. Some reports claimed that the next time, this asteroid is going to hit Earth and could wreck a very real damage. However, NASA has assured in a recent report that the chance of befalling the incident is really mere.
According to the space agency, 2013 TV135 will pass our planet in 2032 and that according to the estimations of the scientists, there’s a 99.998% chance that it isn’t destined for a collision yet.
This asteroid has been discovered only recently and according to the manager of NASA’s NEO program, Don Yeomans, “This is a relatively new discovery. With more observations, I fully expect we will be able to significantly reduce, or rule out entirely, any impact probability for the foreseeable future.”
In its recent close call, the asteroid passed at a distance of 4.2 million miles from Earth. For an asteroid to cause any real damage to our planet and have worldwide consequences, scientists believe that it has to be somewhere between one to two kilometers wide.
Although the chances of an asteroid of that size hitting Earth any time soon are very slim, in fact virtually non-existent for the near future, such an event can cause a huge catastrophe. Scientists believe that asteroids are precisely the reason why dinosaurs went extinct millions of years ago.
Courtesy: CNN
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