asteroid hits are fairly common and have
been taking place ever since the
beginning of time
many of them have narrowly missed planet
earth and there hasn't been much reason
to fret over every space rock that zooms
past us
but nasa released some shocking new
information about an asteroid named 2009
jf1 that's making its way through space
at an alarming speed right towards our
planet
welcome to fact nominal and in today's
video we will take a look at the
potentially hazardous asteroid the size
of the great pyramid of giza which
according to nasa will hit planet earth
on may 6 2022
[Music]
asteroids are the leftovers from the
formation of our solar system billions
of years ago
during the grade formation a big cloud
of gas and dust collapsed after which
all the material fell into the center of
the cloud thus forming what we know
today as the sun while some of the
condensing dust in the cloud became
planets there were some objects that
simply remained
in 1801 while making a star map giuseppe
piazzi accidentally happened to discover
such an object
600 miles in diameter between the orbit
of mars and jupiter thus discovering the
first asteroid
there are a large number of these
objects or asteroids floating around the
vast expanse of space
most of the ones that we know of live in
the main asteroid belt the region lying
between the orbits of mars and jupiter
some asteroids are also found in other
places like in the orbital path of
planets while some just seemingly zoom
through space wild and untamed
not all asteroids have the same shape
and size with some having a more rounded
and pronounced shape while others are
more irregular and jagged
some could be as small and harmless as
pebbles while others have been recorded
to be hundreds of miles in diameter like
one series which is about one quarter
the size of our moon estimated to be
583.7 miles or
939.4 kilometers making it the largest
known asteroid to date
but what's the big deal about these
space rocks anyway as long as they float
around in space at a distance from
planet earth there doesn't seem to be
any reason to worry ourselves right
but what happens when just one of these
celestial rocks makes its way to planet
earth
the damage it could cause is enough to
keep us all awake we tell you to ask the
dinosaurs who would know all about
asteroids and just how deadly they are
but seeing as the entire species was
wiped out by the same you'd kind of get
the point in the past earth has been
victim to violent asteroid hits and it's
no wonder scientists and astronomers are
always keeping a watch on these space
objects
an asteroid hitting earth is quite a
special occurrence though as earth has
been exposed to hundreds of thousands of
asteroids but till date only about 190
craters have been discovered
according to nasa an asteroid must be at
least 25 meters large to make it through
our atmosphere and the probability that
it would actually hit our planet is
quite rare
some of the biggest asteroids to have
hit earth can actually be noted by the
size of the impact crater they have left
behind
the vritta fort crater in south africa
is a 100 to 200 mile or 160 to 300
kilometers crater
that is estimated to have hit earth
nearly 2 billion years ago
it is so monstrously large that it was
declared a world heritage site the
chick-salub crater in mexico that is
said to be the dinosaur killing crater
66 million years ago
is 90 miles wide by 12 miles deep giving
us the idea just how horrific the actual
event must have been
and these are just to name a few
so when nasa declared the potential
danger of 2009 jf1 and its possible
sudden impact on earth
it most certainly was a cause of concern
for humanity and life as we know it
first discovered in may of 2009 by the
nasa funded carolina sky survey at the
mount lemon station in arizona this
asteroid is causing quite the buzz among
astronomers however little to no
information was later provided about the
asteroid
whether they simply lost interest in
2009 jf1 or there just wasn't anything
exciting about the space rock is still
unclear
but fast forward to 2090 nasa released
an estimate that 2009 jf1 could
potentially strike earth in the year
2022
this of course came as a shock as there
had been no previous information on the
asteroid or for warnings of such an
event occurring in the near future
the contact could be more than 15 times
greater than the atomic bomb that was
dropped on hiroshima in 1945 which
caused mass destruction the effects of
which can still be seen today
not only that the asteroid could also
cause massive tsunamis and a nuclear
winter that could secretly affect all
life on earth regardless of where it
actually strikes
this immediately caused the stir on all
social networks sparking lots of
misinformation and fear among the masses
especially with rumors floating around
that the asteroid would hit on exactly
may 6 2022
people even went as far as making
comparisons to the 2021 netflix film
don't look up which follows two
individuals who try to warn their heads
of state about a comet approaching earth
that could completely destroy human
civilization
due to the low probability of an
asteroid strike the esa in february 22
had in fact even downgraded the threat
posed by 2009 jf1 and the asteroid was
excluded from the top 10 risk list where
it had previously been enlisted for
years
nasa was quick to give out some more
information to reassure everyone that
this was in fact true to an extent
though the asteroid does exist for all
the naysayers out there and orbits
around the earth
the asteroid is traveling at a speed of
23.92 kilometers per second
it is also included in the list of
potentially dangerous objects so the
probability that it will collide with
earth is actually not misinformation at
all but just a matter of when and how
but the space agency also went on to say
that the exact probability is barely
0.026 percent or rather a 1 in 3 800
chance that 2009 jf1 would actually
impact earth
it simply classifies the asteroid as a
potentially dangerous object which of
course isn't the most reassuring news
given that it is the sixth most unsafe
object on the near earth object hazard
list from the european space agency or
esa
[Music]
what happens after an asteroid strike
mainly depends upon the travel speed and
the size as well as the location of
where the asteroid hits the planet in
this case 2009 jf1 does seem to be
moving at a worrisome speed which could
result in the destruction of an entire
city or even more posing a risk to
millions of lives
but another thing to consider is that it
could decrease in size as it enters the
earth's atmosphere
if in case the asteroid were to hit
planet earth it would then become the
fifth known impactor despite the fact
that nasa is downplaying the seriousness
of any possible hit astronomers and
other space agencies are working
tirelessly on a solution or a plan if a
so-called planet-killing asteroid were
to strike us
one such measure that is currently
underway is nasa's double asteroid
redirection test or dart the first ever
planetary defense mission in the world
the dart program actually aims to
deflect any incoming asteroid by
striking it with kinetic energy through
their newly developed kinetic impactor
technology
what this would do is essentially block
any attacks from untamed space rocks
hurling themselves at us and causing
them to either blow up into tiny pieces
or at the very least impact them to an
extent that they would miss earth and
change course
jf1 for now has been flagged by the
astronomers for close attention by the
near-earth monitoring system called
sentry
according to nasa century is a highly
automated collision monitoring system
that will continuously examine the
latest asteroid catalog for any impact
chances with earth over the next century
the agencies are doing everything they
can to collect necessary information on
the asteroids 2009 jf1 and other
potential planet killers
so if the situation ever does arise we
will be ready
for now considering the low probability
of impact and the constant reassurance
from nasa
2009 jf1 probably might not do the
damage we feared and it looks like we
can all avoid the fate of the characters
from don't look up
so what do you think should we be
threatened by jf1 and its possible
impact let us know in the comments
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time