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Rest in peace… for now! ‘Planet killer’ asteroids pose ‘no threat’ to Earth for at least 1,000 YEARS, scientists say
- Humans won’t have to worry about a dinosaur-style asteroid for the next millennium
- The highest risk of an asteroid passing the moon is only 0.00151 percent
- But smaller asteroids could still crash into Earth for the next 1,000 years
Planet-killing asteroids have been an unnerving prospect ever since we learned of the dinosaurs’ demise.
But scientists argue we can rest easy for now, as giant asteroid collisions pose no real threat to Earth for at least 1,000 years.
Reassuring research on circulating asteroids suggests that a dinosaur-style smash event is likely unlikely for now.
While a 1,000-meter-wide space rock known as “1994 PC1” poses the greatest risk, it was still minuscule, with a reported only 0.00151 percent chance of entering the moon’s orbit.
“It’s good news,” said Oscar Fuentes-Muñoz of the University of Colorado MIT Technology Review. “As far as we know, there is no impact for the next 1,000 years.”
Asteroid ‘1994 PC1’ posed the highest risk with a reported only 0.00151 percent chance of entering the Moon’s orbit within the next 1,000 years (file image)
About 66 million years ago, non-avian dinosaurs along with more than half of all the world’s species were wiped out after an asteroid collision that destroyed the Chicxulub crater in what is now the Gulf of Mexico.
According to NASA, there are currently 1,283,023 known asteroids.
These come in all shapes and sizes, with the largest having a diameter of about 530 kilometers.
For this study, scientists from the University of Colorado and the California Institute of Technology analyzed a catalog of “km-sized near-Earth objects” (0.6 miles across).
Although these are much smaller than the 10-kilometer-wide asteroid that kills dinosaurs, they are by no means harmless.
A rock this size could plunge the Earth into a mini ice age, in which the world would also become much darker due to soot and dust in the atmosphere.
Researchers then analyzed the distance between each asteroid and Earth before examining their potential risks over the next millennium.
Although miniscule, the chance of the 1,000-meter-wide asteroid 1994 PC1 impacting Earth was found to be 10 times greater than any other asteroid listed.
Humans won’t have to worry about a dinosaur-style asteroid event for the next millennium (file image)
4179 Toutatis: The huge asteroid caused fear in 2004, but won’t return for now
Pictured: A piece of the Chelyabinsk meteorite that exploded over Russia, injuring more than 1,000 people
This was followed by the 6,138-foot-wide 314082 Dryope and 4,404-foot-wide 4179 Toutatis, the latter of which was known as the “potato-shaped” asteroid that caused mass anxiety in 2004.
Despite these reassuring results, smaller asteroids will still pose a risk to Earth for the next 100 and 1,000 years.
The European Space Agency found that 878 smaller asteroids are at risk of hitting Earth in the next century.
They can still cause “severe devastation,” as evidenced ten years ago when a 20-meter-wide meteor injured more than 1,000 people in Chelyabinsk, Russia.