Giant Asteroid Passes Earth: Chaos Did Not Ensue

When the asteroid 2005 YU55 was discovered six years ago, astronomers feared that it may well have been headed towards a collision with Earth.  Travelling at a speed of over 45,000 km/h, the impact of such a massive piece of space debris on land would have resulted in a 6.5 km wide crater, over 500 m deep.  Had it struck water, 70-ft. high tsunamis would have engulfed the world’s coastlines, destroying coastal development through flooding and erosion.  It is likely that a large loss of both human and natural life would have been unavoidable, further complicated by changes in climate and the chemical composition of the atmosphere.

However, as the asteroid approached over the years, it became more and more apparent that there was no real chance of collision.  This was confirmed on Tuesday, November 8, when we didn’t meet the same alleged fate as the dinosaurs.  At 6:28 p.m., the 400-meter wide, charcoal-coloured space rock whizzed by our planet, approaching a distance of 325,000 kilometres away from the centre of the Earth, the closest it’s been in 200 years.  At that distance, the effects of its gravitational force on terrestrial phenomena such as tidal activity and the movement of the tectonic plates was negligible.  It passed us rather uneventfully, though when it draws an even more alarming 270,000 kilometres away from Earth in 2094, it may be a different story.

Asteroids are deemed as potentially hazardous if their orbits approach or intersect the orbit of the Earth.  Though no impact occurred, it was still a close call, considering it even came within the orbit of the moon – about 0.85 times closer.  This proximity without danger has caused astronomers to take it as a great learning experience, especially due to the relative rarity of such an occurrence.  Though close to 20,000 different asteroids are currently being monitored due to the nature of their orbit, they seldom actually manage to pass so close to us.  The last similar event occurred in 1976, and the next is set for 2028.  Invisible to the naked eye, astronomers used special equipment to study the asteroid nonetheless.  It is believed that an asteroid like 2005 YU55 was responsible for the mass extinctions 65 million years ago, as well as the introduction of carbon to the Earth shortly after the Earth’s formation.  This asteroid may answer many ongoing questions relating to the formation and nature of the Earth itself.
This time, we learned from an asteroid, hopefully next time we aren’t killed by one.  We managed to dodge an asteroid, and humanity may be okay for a little while, as a strike by such an asteroid is thought to only occur once every 100,000 years anyway.