Space is apparently not real thrilled with us Earthlings these days.
Just a few weeks ago an asteroid hurtled past our planet and no one realized it until just before it blew by.
That one was pretty big, around 50-150 feet wide, but the one hurtling towards us today is much, much bigger.
This asteroid, named named 2004 BO41, will have what NASA calls a “near Earth pass” today. And while that’s sounds pretty scary, it will still be about 7.3 million miles away. However, when you put that distance in relative terms, considering the size of our solar system, that’s still pretty darn close.
Unfortunately, once that rock passes by there is another one named QL44 that’s also on the way and it has NASA even more concerned.
Reports The Daily Star…
NASA believes the 61-metre-long asteroid will whizz past Earth at a speed of 31,000 mph on September 17.
But alongside other space agencies, it has kept a close eye on its movement due to its “highly uncertain orbit”.
Experts say that even a meteor as small as that would have the impact equivalent to several nuclear bombs if it smashed into London.
They continue…
QL44 has been coded as a nine of NASA’s scale, which means scientists are the least certain about its flight path.
It was last observed by the Spacewatch Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona yesterday.
Near-Earth asteroids are being discovered at an alarming rate by astronomers studying the skies.
This is made more worrying by the fact that experts only know where about 10% of them are.
So yeah, we’re all basically going to be SOL at some point when one of these bastards actually hits. Happy Hump Day!
Asteroid image by Shutterstock