Over the last few days , there ’s been a fate of internet chat about an asteroid hitting Earth on November 2 , 2020 , the day before the US presidential election . While this blank space careen could enter our atm , there is nothing to worry about . The asteroid is so small it ’s unconvincing to attain the ground .
The object in question is known as2018 VP1 , and as the name suggest it was find in 2018 . It is more or less 2 meters ( 6.5 feet ) across and comes close to our planet every two years . Given that it is so small , it is difficult to study its area incisively and how close it will do to our planet .
The nominal distance between the center of the Earth and the pocket-size asteroid is approximate to be around 420,000 kilometre ( 260,000 miles ) , which is beyond the celestial orbit of the Moon . Its upper limit is up to 4 million kilometers ( just shy of 2.5 million mile ) and its tight distance to Earth puts it on a psyche - on collision , but there ’s only a 1 in 240 probability ( 0.41 per centum ) for that to happen .
If 2018 VP1 does gain Earth , the humble rock will probably break apart from the friction with the ambiance and burn over the Pacific . Light fragments may reach the earth like in the case of the Sutter ’s Mill meteorites in 2012 or asteroid 2014 AA , which glow over the Atlantic just 21 hour after being discovered .
2018 VP1 is far from alone in outer space . There are hundreds of millions of these types of bodies , which are unlikely to induce terms . Over the last 15 years , NASA has worked to name as many dangerous asteroids as possible . The goal is to traverse the orbit of any physical object over 100 meters ( 330 invertebrate foot ) across .
All the civilization - ending asteroid are known , but there are for sure yet - to - be - discovered bodies that could destroy a big city and produce continent - wide effects if they were to come to Earth . Over 2,000of these big asteroids are known , which is slightly less than one - third of theup to 6,200 objectsestimated to be out there .
