Massive asteroid is hurtling towards Earth, says scientist
December 11 2014
A giant asteroid that crosses paths with Earth every three years has been discovered by a Russian scientist.
Vladimir Lipunov, a professor at Moscow State University, said that the asteroid, named 2014 UR116, posed no immediate threat to human life but could potentially collide with Earth at some point.
Mr Lipunov revealed his discovery in a short documentary, entitled Asteroid Attack, which was posted on the website of Roscosmos, the Russian federal space agency.
He calculates that it is 370m in diameter, a little shorter in height than the Empire State Building, although it is far bulkier.
A bus-sized meteor that entered the Earth’s atmosphere over the city of Chelyabinsk in the Urals region of Russia last year caused a large shock wave that smashed windows and damaged buildings for miles around.
Mr Lipunov believes that if 2014 UR116 were to crash into Earth, its impact would be 1,000 times more devastating.
However, predicting whether it will collide with the Earth proves difficult for scientists because the gravitational pulls of other planets in the solar system constantly alter the flight paths of asteroids.
“We need to permanently track this asteroid, because even a small mistake in calculations could have serious consequences,” Mr Lipunov added.
Natan Esmant, an expert with the official Space Research Institute in Moscow told The Christian Science Monitor that a collision in the next few decades looks unlikely. However, over a much longer period, it could well happen, he said.
Mr Esmant was more concerned by the estimated 100,000 near-Earth objects, such as asteroids and comets, which could cross our planet’s orbit and are large enough to be dangerous. Scientists have catalogued only about 11,000 of them so far.
“Every couple of days, new ones are being discovered,” Mr Esmant said. “Scientists have increasingly powerful tools to do this work, but there’s a lot still to be done. Every object that crosses the Earth’s path can be a potential threat.”
The Chelyabinsk meteor galvanised efforts among scientists to pool resources on the study of asteroids. Conventional telescopes, radio telescopes, radar and infrared detectors have been deployed to help track asteroids. The first satellite specifically designed for the task was launched last year.
Mr Lipunov’s asteroid is a similar size to the 99942 Apophis asteroid, which scientists had at one point feared would crash into Earth in 2029 or 2036. Nasa last year ruled out the possibility of an impact with the Apophis asteroid.
Nasa’s Near Earth Object Program said in a statement that the 2014 UR116 asteroid did not pose a threat for at least 150 years.
“It does not pose a threat because its orbital path does not pass sufficiently close to the Earth’s orbit,” the organisation said.
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/science/a ... 293561.ece
