Asteroid near miss: “City Killer” Asteroid misses earth and scientists had no idea – CBS News

Scientists revealed an asteroid dubbed by some as a “metropolis killer” came closer to the Earth than the moon this week. The Washington Put up reported that scientists it looks had no thought it was coming.

Asteroid 2019 OK came hurtling against Earth at a creep of almost 15 miles a 2nd, earlier than flying past. In accordance with NASA, it was about 45,000 miles from Earth on Thursday.

“It will probably perhaps well possess hit with over 30 times the power of the atomic blast at Hiroshima,” astronomer professor Alan Duffy suggested the Sydney Morning Herald. Duffy known as the zooming keep rock a “metropolis killer.”

Astronomers insist it posed no immediate menace but they admit they had no thought the big rock was headed our come, because it came from the direction of the sun.

The asteroid, referring to the dimension of a big boulder, perfect was visible a pair of days ago.

There are 20,000 shut to-Earth asteroids and so they attain usually produce an look. In 2013, one slammed into Russia, injuring 1,600 other folks.     

At a convention in April, scientists from spherical the sphere were asked easy suggestions to acknowledge to a produce-explain about plot whereby an asteroid big ample to extinguish a most important metropolis can also very well be heading within the correct direction to strike the Earth in eight years.

The seemingly response would possibly per chance well perhaps well be utilizing keep ships to present the asteroid a nudge, one scientist acknowledged.

“All we possess to achieve is swap its creep a little little bit of sooner or a little little bit of slower so that as soon as it crosses Earth’s orbit, it crosses both in front of us or on the assist of us,” acknowledged Dr. Lori Glaze, director of planetary science at NASA.