NASA Warns Asteroid That Could Cause Powerful Airburst On Earth Approaching Tomorrow

NASA is currently monitoring an asteroid that’s expected to approach Earth on Saturday. Given its size, the asteroid is capable of causing a major mid-air explosion if it goes through the planet’s atmosphere.

According to NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), the approaching asteroid is known as 2019 WP6. Based on the agency’s data, the asteroid is currently traveling towards Earth at a velocity of almost 10,000 miles per hour. CNEOS noted that the asteroid has an estimated diameter of about 118 feet.

The 2019 WP6 asteroid is officially classified as an Apollo asteroid. According to CNEOS’ orbit projections of the asteroid, 2019 WP6 travels around Earth, Venus, Mercury and the Sun. Occasionally, its orbit intersects with that of other planets such as Mars and Earth.

If the asteroid ends up hitting Earth instead of just crossing its path, it will most likely not cause an impact event on the planet. Due to its size and current speed, 2019 WP6 will probably burn up in Earth’s atmosphere and cause a huge explosion in the sky.

Although the energy that would be released by the explosion could be equivalent to several atomic bombs, it probably wouldn’t be as powerful as the airburst caused by the space rock that detonated over Russia in 1908.

According to reports, an asteroid believed to be about 160 to 620 feet wide entered Earth’s atmosphere and exploded over the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in Russia at an altitude of 3 to 6 miles from the ground.

Initial estimates revealed that the energy from the explosion was around 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb used during World War II. It was powerful enough to level about 770 square miles of forest. This area is bigger than Maui, which is the second largest island in Hawaii.

Fortunately, CNEOS noted that 2019 WP6’s upcoming near-Earth intersection will not result in a collision. According to the agency, the asteroid will fly past Earth on Dec. 14 at 12:00 am EST. During this time, the asteroid is expected to be about 0.01633 astronomical units or about 1.5 million miles from the planet’s center.