NASA Asteroid Warning: NEO That Can Destroy Cities Approaching Earth Tonight

KEY POINTS

NASA detected an asteroid approaching Earth
2019 XW is big enough to cause a major impact event
2019 XW is expected to cross Earth's orbit tonight

NASA is closely monitoring a massive asteroid that follows an Earth-crossing orbit. According to the agency, the space rock is expected to intersect the planet’s orbit later tonight.

NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) identified the approaching asteroid as 2019 XW. As indicated in the agency’s database, the asteroid has an estimated diameter of 325 feet, making it significantly bigger than the Big Ben clock tower in London.

According to CNEOS, the asteroid is currently flying towards Earth's direction at a speed of almost 35,000 miles per hour.

2019 XW was first observed on Dec. 3. After analyzing the asteroid’s trajectory, NASA was able to plot the asteroid past and future near-planet approaches. According to its close-approach data, the asteroid does not frequently visit Earth’s vicinity.

In fact, the last time the asteroid flew past the planet was on July 1, 2017. After tonight’s visit, the asteroid is not expected to return to Earth’s neighborhood until July 2, 2047.

2019 XW has been classified as a member of the Apollo family of asteroids. Like other Apollos, 2019 XW’s orbit is very wide and covers different bodies in the Solar System such as the Sun, Earth, Mercury and Venus. As the asteroid flies around within the system, it intersects with the orbits of the other planets.

The approaching asteroid’s near-intersection with Earth is expected to happen tonight at 10:35 p.m. EST. If various factors in space cause the asteroid to hit the planet instead of just flying past it, it will create a massive impact event.

Based on its size and current speed, 2019 XW will create a crater that’s about a mile wide if it hits the ground. The energy that would be released from the resulting impact and explosion would be equivalent to multiple atomic bombs. The blast wave generated by the explosion would incinerate everything in its path and leave a large area such as a major town completely destroyed.

Fortunately, 2019 XW will miss Earth during its approach this evening. According to CNEOS, the asteroid will zip past Earth from a very safe distance of 0.02755 astronomical units or about 2.6 million miles away.