July 19, 2020
By: Haris Ahmad[1]
The universe as we know it was formed due to a massive explosion that made everything out of a singularity. Thousands of galaxies formed and the star-forming material ejected by the explosion formed billions of stars. Among which, most became home to planets. Nevertheless, among them, was our Sun.
In the early Solar system, our Sun harbored hundreds of planets that violently collided with each other, splitting each other into pieces.
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| http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/passing-star-early-outer-solar-system-06299.html |
An example of such collisions is the collision of a Mars-sized planet named Theia, with planet Earth. Moreover, the same collision was the one due to which our very own moon, Luna formed. Therefore, larger remnants of these collisions became moons of many planets whereas the smaller remnants started orbit planets or the Sun directly. These small rock bodies are known today by the name of Asteroids.
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| https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a19143/earth-moon-theia-collision/ |
Most of the asteroids in the Solar system exist in a belt in the middle of Mars and Jupiter which is called the Asteroid belt. This belt consists of millions of asteroids that orbit the Sun just like planets do.
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| https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a19143/earth-moon-theia-collision/ |
Over the course of billions of years, thousands of asteroids have flown by planet Earth among which, many also collided with the Earth. A great exemplary event to justify this is the asteroid named Chicxulub which collided with planet Earth and wiped out Dinosaurs from the face of this planet. Furthermore, smaller asteroids come by many times; however, they don’t do as much damage as the ones like Chicxulub do.
Among these smaller asteroids, there is one called 2020 ND. It was identified by the scientists working at NASA in 1945. This asteroid has gone past planet Earth 4 times since then and the same asteroid passed by planet Earth with a distance of the orbit of the moon on 5th June, but scientists didn’t notice it and were given no importance whatsoever. However, just 2 days later, on 7th June it grabbed the attention of scientists who classified it as a potentially hazardous asteroid.
Further research suggested that it was almost 170 meters in diameter. Furthermore, on 24th July, this asteroid will fly by planet Earth again. God forbid, if this asteroid hits us, it won't end up well. It will rush towards Earth at the speed of 48,600 kph. The impact of the collision would completely wipe out a whole city and produce seismic activity that will bring earthquakes in near regions. Besides, the pollution it can make can cause environmental problems in the area too.
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| https://nypost.com/2019/06/11/humans-are-probably-safe-from-a-catastrophic-asteroid-strike-for-now/ |
According to the calculations of scientists, there is a very low chance of the asteroid colliding with planet Earth and they suggest that it will pass by planet Earth at a safe distance of 5 million km peacefully.
Countless other asteroids have a risk of colliding with planet Earth and NASA is also preparing to make a defense mechanism to stop these potentially hazardous asteroids. Since a large one of these can cause another mass extinction and humans will meet the fate of the dinosaurs.
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