Updated November 2nd, 2020 at 17:40 IST

Is Asteroid 2018VP1 hitting Earth on November 2? Rumours explained

'Is Asteroid 2018VP1 hitting Earth on November 2?' has been a question for many people around the world. Read to know details about the 2018VPI Asteroid:

Reported by: Amir Khollam
| Image:self
Advertisement

'Is Asteroid 2018VP1 hitting the Earth on November 2?' has been a question asked by many people who were scared by multiple social media posts or other questionable sources with rumours that an asteroid is headed to Earth just one day before the presidential election in America. However, the rumours are actually based upon half-knowledge and do not resonate with the truth in any form. The year 2020 may have brought upon a number of tragedies and revelations but the Earth getting hit by an asteroid is not going be one of those incidents. 

Also read: Elon Musk's SpaceX to follow 'self-governing principles' on Mars, rejects Earth's laws

Asteroid 2018VP1 hitting possibility

The famously deemed 'dangerous' asteroid which has been termed as the 2018VP1 is not actually a threat to Earth even if it somehow manages to break the Earth's atmosphere without disintegrating. However, the chance of the asteroid hitting the Earth has been deemed by NASA to have only a 0.41 per cent chance of firstly entering the Earth's atmosphere and secondly due to its disintegration because of its smaller size. NASA asteroid watch's official Twitter account had shared the details about it back in August writing - ''Asteroid 2018VP1 is very small, approx. 6.5 feet, and poses no threat to Earth. It currently has a 0.41% chance of entering our planet’s atmosphere, but if it did, it would disintegrate due to its extremely small size.''

Also read: Netflix Raising US Streaming Prices Amid Booming Growth

Furthermore, the asteroid is very small in size. It is expected to be only 6.5 feet, which makes it smaller than what people expect it to be. There has been bigger space debris and larger satellites who have entered Earth's atmosphere and got disintegrated due to the heat. It is easier to get scared of such matters as they have a certain sense of ambiguity surrounding them, but, official NASA personnel have gone on record multiple times to explain that the asteroid will not be making its way to Earth and if it does, by some odds, then it won't cause much havoc either. 

Also read: 'Hum To Know': Google Launches New Feature To Help Users Search Songs Without Lyrics

Besides this, NASA has been overtly committed to the tracking of asteroids in order to identify if they are a threat to the planet. However, NASA has also gone on record stating that it is difficult to track the asteroid as they move fast. Asteroids only leave a small window for NASA scientists to spot them. 

Also read: Google Announces Hangouts Upgrades, To Be Replaced By Google Chats

Advertisement

Published November 2nd, 2020 at 17:40 IST