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| - Fact Check: Netizens warn of asteroid hit a day before US elections
Netizens have raised alarm over another "catastrophe" at the end of the year – this time it's celestial.
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India Today Fact Check
Asteroid 2018 VP1, which is just 6.5-feet long, will indeed approach the Earth on the day, but it will remain over 2,60,000 miles away from the Earth, with little chance of entering the atmosphere.
Several people believe 2020 to be a cursed year. The Covid-19 pandemic, along with forest fires, floods and earthquakes in different parts of the globe, have led to innumerable suffering. And now, netizens have raised alarm over another “catastrophe” at the end of the year this time it’s celestial.
Several Facebook and Twitter users have pushed the panic button, claiming an asteroid will hit the Earth on November 2, just a day before the United States Presidential Election, thus, ending the year “with a bang”.
Here comes an asteroid to remind us 2020 isn't messing around. This year could end with a bang. Scientists recently spotted an asteroid on a direct collision course to Earth — projected to hit a day before the presidential elections in... https://t.co/BZedMaUioK — Pierre F. Lherisson (@P_F_Lherisson_) August 22, 2020
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that a small asteroid will indeed approach the Earth on November 2, but it will remain more than 2,60,000 miles away from the Earth, with little chance (0.41%) of entering the atmosphere.
The archived versions of the posts are saved here, here and here.
According to NASA, the said asteroid, 2018 VP1, is only about 6.5 feet long. If it does enter the Earth’s atmosphere, it will disintegrate and burn up because of its small size, the space agency said.
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. — NASA Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) August 23, 2020
The asteroid was discovered in 2018 by the Zwicky Transient Facility at Palomar Observatory near San Diego.
While scientists call the event a close approach, as per the website “Space.com” , it “ will remain quite far away from Earth: more than 260,000 miles (4,20,000 km) away. That’s about the same distance at which the much larger moon orbits Earth.”
As per NASA, asteroids that pose a serious threat to the planet are classified as Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs). They need to be at least 500 feet in diameter to fall under that category.
Rather, the asteroid 2018 VP1 has been cataloged in the NASA’s “Small-Body Database Browser”. Therefore, we can say that the claim of an asteroid hitting the Earth later this year has been exaggerated by netizens. There is no threat to the Earth.
Also read: Attention Earthlings, travelling really-really fast, this asteroid is coming our way
Also read: Small asteroid becomes closest ever seen passing Earth: Nasa
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