Over the weekend, the excitement was palpable in the United States, especially in the media. And for good reason, there is talk of an asteroid that would be able to enter our atmosphere on November 2, 2020. However, this date is none other than the eve of the presidential elections across the Atlantic. What should we know about this asteroid?
On August 16, 2020, a car-sized asteroid passed our planet "incognito" at a distance of about 3,000 kilometers. The 5.5m wide by 2m long object passed at more than 44,000 km/h over the southern hemisphere. Called 2020 HQ, the asteroid in question had been detected only six hours after its passage by the Palomar Observatory in California (USA).
On the risk side, the experts had claimed that in the event of a "flirt" with the Earth, the latter's atmosphere would disintegrate the object . An explosion equivalent to that of a few tens of kilotons of TNT would then have occurred, approximately 4 km from the ground. In an article published by the American channel Click2Houston (KPRC-TV) on August 21, 2020, it is about another asteroid named 2018 VP1. According to the media, the object would have 0.41% chance of impacting our planet November 2.
Currently, 2018 VP1 is spinning at a speed of 35 km/s , or 125,899 km/h. Being more than 56 million kilometers from Earth, the object is approaching us at a rate of 6.2 km every second. Obviously, this news could be very worrying. However, it turns out that the relative dimensions of this asteroid are not a secret. Indeed, the object measures only 2 x 0.91 m ! What about its weight? Fifteen unfortunate kilograms. Nearly three times smaller than the asteroid that skimmed past Earth last weekend, so 2018 VP1 poses absolutely no threat .
In the United States, many media relayed the information, as did some celebrities. The reason for this enthusiasm is obviously the date itself of the "possible impact". Indeed, November 2, 2020 is none other than the eve of the presidential elections in the United States pitting Donald Trump against Joe Biden. In other words, some see it as a kind of sign whose nature seems difficult to define. Finally, remember that it is possible to follow the real-time path of asteroid 2018 VP1 on the Space In 3D platform.
