An asteroid quite large from 12 up to 40 meters to 130 foot) will pass close to Earth and may even impact the Earth’s surface. Although scientists believe the likelihood of an impact is very unlikely, they don’t know its exact path. The asteroid’s actual size can also be estimated. It is also called 2012TC4 and was closest to Earth on October 2012.. It could do serious harm if it hits an area with 40 metres width. The meteor in February 2013 that exploded over Chelyabinsk in Russia injured about 1,500 people and caused damage to more than 7,000 buildings. It was 20 meters in size. Scientists believe that there are very few chances for a direct hit. Judit Gyorgyey Ries, a researcher at University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Astronomy said that it was something worth keeping an eye on. An airburst could be visible, possibly broken windows depending on the location it hits. 2012 was detected by Pan-STARRS in Hawaii on October 4th, 2012,. One week later it missed Earth by 94,800 km (58,905 miles). It was very close in the universe of astronomy. This rock is fast-rotating and elongated. It has been close to Earth several times in the past. Researchers are trying to find its precise path in 2017.. The chances of it hitting the ground are very small, Gyorgyey Ries stated: “It’s got a 0. 00055% There is a cumulative chance it will strike. You can see that it is 0. 079LD marks it as an impactor. It is however the smallest distance possible between the orbits.” Detlef Koschny from the European Space Agency’s Near-Earth Object segment in the Space Situational Awareness program told astrowatch.net the odds of an asteroid striking us are one in a thousand. It was approximately 20 metres wide when it exploded above Chelyabinsk, Russia. Koschny warned it was difficult to estimate its size right now and said that the meteor could measure 10 up to 40 meters wide. A 10m wide rock would hardly be noticed, while a 40m one could leave a crater, he said. Makoto Yoshikawa from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency doesn’t believe that the rock is a threat to Earth. Gyorgyey Ries stated that although there is a lot of uncertainty in the orbit it is still much lower than the radial uncertainty. This just alters the timing of the nearest flyby. I would say based on this, that there is no chance of impact in 2017, but more observations could help to reduce the uncertainties.” Astrowatch.net informs that as of April 12th, 2015, there are 1,572 PHAs (potentially hazardous asteroids) in space. Scientists say none of these asteroids are in danger of colliding with Earth. New ones are constantly being discovered.
