Hard hats at the ready – because an asteroid is exit to fly past Earth onMarch 5 , 2016 , and while there ’s fundamentally no chance of it hitting us , it will come remarkably close to our planet .
Asteroid 2013 TX68 will swing by at a aloofness of between 14 million kilometers ( 9 million land mile ) and 17,000 kilometers ( 11,000 land mile ) – which is lower than the eye socket of geostationary artificial satellite . It ’s pretty improbable it ’ll hit anything in orbit as it sail by , though .
The asteroid has only been tracked for a few years , which is why there is such a large chain of precariousness in the distance from Earth it will take flight past , as its exact orbital parameter are n’t be intimate . still , uranologist have been able to essentially rule out the chance of an impingement , either now or on succeeding flybys .
When the asteroid swings back around on September 28 , 2017 , it will have a one in 250 million chance of hitting us , while further flybys in 2046 and 2097 have even lower chances of an wallop . " The possibilities of collision on any of the three future flyby dates are far too small to be of any existent business organization , " order Paul Chodas , director of NASA ’s Center for NEO Studies ( CNEOS ) in California , in astatement . " I fully await any succeeding observation to reduce the chance even more . "
Shown are the possible pointedness of closest coming for the asteroid . NASA / JPL - Caltech
The asteroid is about twice the sizing of theChelyabinsk meteorthat detonate over Russia in February 2013 , measure about 30 meters ( 100 feet ) in diam . If it did somehow enter the atmosphere , NASA said it would produce an airburst of about twice the energy as Chelyabinsk , which smash window and wound hundreds in Russia .
While we ’re safe on this occasion , this asteroid does highlight the growing need for us to track near - Earth aim , and to have suitable defence ready in case one is on a collision grade . NASA recently set up a newasteroid defense officeto better track hazardous asteroids , and there are a numeral of programme in the work – some usingnuclear detonation – to deflect an asteroid , if we ever necessitate to .
For now though , you could rest easy .
