Astronomer clicks photo of potentially hazardous asteroid coming towards Earth
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A direct hit from an asteroid ended reign of dinosaurs millions of years ago. The species that was dominating nearly every food chain on the planet was eliminated in one stroke. It is therefore wise to keep looking at the skies for any such threat
Human eyes (and lenses) are almost always pointed at the sky. Along with wonders of the universe, they are also on the look-out for threats that may be hurtling towards Earth at speeds of thousands of miles an hour.
Asteroids pose great threat to Earth and humanity. A direct hit can singlehandedly wipe-out humanity's existence from the planet. This has happened before. A direct hit from an asteroid ended reign of dinosaurs millions of years ago. The species that was dominating nearly every food chain on the planet was eliminated in one stroke.
It is therefore wise to keep looking at the skies for any such threat.
Gianluca Masi, An astronomer at Virtual Telescope Project in Italy has clicked image of a potentially hazardous asteroid that is hurtling towards the Earth at the speed of 26,800 miles per hour.
(The actual asteroid has been indicated by an arrow in the image above)
The asteroid is soon going to have a close encounter with Earth. It is slated to take place on March 4 at 1:30 pm IST.
As per a report in Newsweek, the asteroid completes an orbit of the Sun in 384 days. The asteroid has indeed been classified 'potentially hazardous', but we need not worry about it being responsible for the end of humanity.
Classification as 'potentially hazardous' does not mean that the asteroid is going to hit us. It only means that it will pass closely by the Earth.