It’s undeniable: 2020 was a pretty rocky year, and despite some glimpses of hope, 2021 hasn’t started much better. We are still locked in the middle of a global pandemic, the government is more focused on repressing activists than resolving the climate crisis they are protesting, and according to NASA, a potentially dangerous asteroid will have to pass uncomfortably on Earth.
Specifically, Asteroid 2001 FO32 will float in front of the planet on March 21. With a speed of just under 77,000 miles per hour and measuring about a kilometer in diameter, it will be the largest and fastest asteroid to pass so close in 2021.
So it’s time to dig the underground bunker or abandon it completely and go to quarantine, because who cares about COVID in the face of an extinction-level event? Not exactly, explains Alan Fitzsimmons, an astronomer and professor of astrophysics at Queen’s University in Belfast.
“An impact of a small asteroid, 200 to 300 m in diameter, could devastate a small state or country,” he says. “An asteroid a mile wide or more can produce climate effects around the world that could cause severe food shortages, as well as devastation, near the point of impact.”
This does not sound exactly reassuring, but he adds that there is no need to worry about the 2001 asteroid FO32: “The good thing is that, due to the observations of many astronomers, we know that it can not affect us at least for the next 200 years. . ”While it will have close approaches at this time, such as March 22, 2052, these offer useful opportunities to study large asteroids near Earth and learn more about them,“ and we can do so without worries ”.
In fact, we seem to be relatively safe from asteroid threats for some time. According to Fitzsimmons: “NASA-funded research has now discovered almost all of the largest asteroids and determined that they will pose no risk in the next two centuries.” Now, he adds, it’s important to focus on the smaller asteroids: “to discover them and find out where they’re going.” Asteroids that have the ability to pass through the atmosphere and touch the earth pass us closer than the moon about every five to ten years.
We can consider ourselves lucky that Asteroid 2001 FO32 left us unharmed on March 21, but what if you want to see it fly in the night sky? Unfortunately – “or luckily!” Fitzsimmons Notes: You won’t see much if you don’t have access to a decent telescope. “At the closest point, it will still be two million miles away from us and will be 100,000 times weaker than the faintest stars that can be seen with the naked eye.”
Because the asteroid moves so fast, observers with telescopes can have a chance to detect its motion (mapped with distant stars) in real time.