A huge asteroid named Bennu, which is as big as the Empire State Building in New York could hit the earth. Earlier this week, scientists of the US Space Agency NASA confirmed the same. However, it is important to note that there is no need to worry as this event will likely happen in the 2100s.
According to a report in the New York Times, the chances of Bennu hitting Earth between 2021 and 2300 is one in 1,750. Speaking about the same, scientist Davide Farnocchiaa, author of the 'hazard assessment' study for asteroid (101955) Bennu, along with 17 other scientists, said that the chances of impact are still pretty low.
"I’m not any more concerned about Bennu than I was before. The impact probability remains really small,” Farnocchiaa was quoted as saying. The study led by Farnocchiaa titled 'Ephemeris and hazard assessment for near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu' was done to keep track of the asteroid's trajectory, based on the OSIRIS-REx data.
How close will asteroid Bennu come to Earth?
Scientists say that the asteroid Bennu, by the year 2135, will come inside 125,000 miles of the Earth, around half the distance from the Earth to the moon. A video by NASA's Goddard reveals how near Bennu would come in September 2135 which is why it is important to know the exact distance, scientists say.
Citing a phenomenon called 'gravitational keyhole', the scientists said that it could send Bennu in a particular route which could lead to it intersecting with the Earth 50 years after 2135.
What are the chances of devastation?
The momentous day for the strike could be September 24, 2182, however, scientists have also clarified that there is only a 0.037% chance that Bennu will hit Earth.
Scientists have also reassured that though the event will not lead to extinction, the devastation it brings could be colossal. Lindley Johnson, who works as a planetary defense officer at NASA said, "So, a half-kilometer-sized object is going to create a crater that’s at least five kilometres in diameter, and it can be as much as 10 kilometres in diameter. But the area of devastation is going to be much, much broader than that, as much as 100 times the size of the crater," New York Times quoted her as saying.
