Massive Asteroid , Set for Closest Approach , to Earth Since 1914.
On August 20, a humongous asteroid larger than Giza's Great Pyramid will pass by Earth for the first time in over 100 years.
On August 20, a humongous asteroid larger than Giza's Great Pyramid will pass by Earth for the first time in over 100 years.
'Newsweek' reports that the asteroid, named 2019 AV13, is forecast to pass Earth at a speed of about 20,000 miles per hour.
It is expected to pass at a distance of about 3.2 million miles.
The last time the asteroid passed this close to Earth was in 1914.
The next time it will approach this close to our planet will be in the year 2113.
'Newsweek' reports that most asteroids originate in the Asteroid Belt orbiting between Mars and Jupiter.
Asteroids in the belt range in size from a few feet to the enormous Ceres which is 600 miles in diameter.
As gravitational interaction pulls asteroids toward the Sun, it occasionally sends them on a course near the Earth.
The 100 year interval between events is purely a statistical construct based on the number of objects of a particular size, their orbits and an arbitrary miss distance, so 100 years is an average.
, Jay Tate, director of the The Spaceguard Center observatory, via 'Newsweek'.
In fact it is just as likely that we'll have another similar close approach next year as we will in a century, Jay Tate, director of the The Spaceguard Center observatory, via 'Newsweek'
