NASA recently announced that an asteroid will pass by the Earth around next month. According to the government agency, the asteroid would pass so close to Earth that it wouldn't be very difficult to spot it on a clear night sky. NASA however is still in the process of figuring out where the asteroid would exactly brush with the planet.
As if predicting the onslaught of doomsdayers, NASA has already explained that the asteroid's passing would not cause any damage or harm in short it's not close enough to actually impact our planet. The asteroid, which is named as 2013 TX68, is a 30 meter asteroid that was discovered back in 2013. Three days following the discovery, scientists lost track of the asteroid after it moved during the day time.
It wasn't until recently when NASA pinpointed the location of 2013 TX68 once again. The closest the asteroid would be is around 11,000 miles from the planet. The proximity is almost one twentieth of the distance from Earth to the Moon.
Paul Chodas, the manager of NASA's Centre for Near Earth Object Studies has since given a statement as to why people should not be alarmed with the asteroid. According to Chodas, the flyby would happen without an effect to the planet.
"There is a chance that the asteroid will be picked up by our asteroid search telescopes when it safely flies past us next month, providing us with data to more precisely define its orbit around the Sun" claimed Chodas.
Furthermore, NASA scientists at the Center for NEO Studies (CNEOS) at the Jet propulsion laboratory in Pasadena, California also confirmed that next month's asteroid sighting would not cause Earth any harm. However, CNEOS revealed that 2013 TX68 might show itself again in 2017.
Chodas once again gave a reassuring word about the possibility of future collisions.
"The possibilities of collision on any of the three future flyby dates are far too small to be of any real concern, I fully expect any future observations to reduce the probability even more."
