Asteroid 2018VP1, a refrigerator-sized space-rock, is hurtling towards us at more than 40,000 km/hr.
It may buzz-cut Earth on Nov 2, the day before the Presidential Election.
It’s not big enough to cause harm. So if the World ends in 2020, it won’t be the fault of the Universe. pic.twitter.com/eiy9G9w4Ez
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 18, 2020
Definitely Mar a Lago
Prominent astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson has just announced a refrigerator-sized asteroid might hit the United States on November 2.
While this would not create widespread damage, given that iron has a density of 7,870 kg/m3, we would be looking at about 15,000 kg hitting the ground at about 10,000 m/s. (I am figuring an iron asteroid of 4 m3 volume, with half of it vaporizing before it hits the earth)
The kinetic energy involved is therefore ½mv2, or about 7.5✕1011 Joules.
This is roughly equivalent to the detonation of about 180 tons of TNT.
So, the blast is much smaller than Hiroshima, but about 15 times bigger than the GBU-43/B MOAB.
Definitely enough to depress property values:
A certain asteroid is currently moving toward Earth, said the world’s most prominent astrophysicists Neil deGrasse Tyson.
It could theoretically strike the planet just before the forthcoming US presidential elections slated on November 2.
The prominent astrophysicist said that if the planet eventually ends in 2020, it would not entirely be the world’s responsibility.
The asteroid identified as 2018VP1 has been on the radar since the moment it was observed by the famed Palomar Observatory in California in November 2018.
This is so 2020.