Mankind lurks many dangers against which even our most important weapon - scientific and technological progress - is powerless. One of them is a collision with cosmic stones (asteroids).

Does humanity await fate, possibly befell dinosaurs? The answer to this question is known to Sentry, an intelligent system for assessing the risks of falling space objects. It tracks asteroids that have a chance to collide with the Earth. We will tell you more about the ten most dangerous of them.

10.2012QD8

The maximum probability of a collision is 1 chance out of 188,679.
Estimated date - March 8, 2047 23:18

Opens a list of potential deaths from outer space celestial body with a diameter of 90 meters. In August 2012, it flew past the Earth at a distance of 5.9 million km. And although the asteroid flew away, he promised to return in 2047.

True, the probability that he decides to make a closer acquaintance with us is very small.

9.2008JL3

Chance of collision - 1 chance out of 13,280.
Estimated Date - May 1, 2027 9:07

May 2008 turned out to be fruitful for astronomers - they discovered as many as five asteroids. But only one of them was awarded the top 10 space objects that threaten the Earth. It is called 2008JL3.

However, like the tenth place in the rating, this celestial guest was not as deadly as it seemed. It is small, only 30 meters in diameter, and the probability of its collision with the Earth is extremely low. The next time he passes near the Earth very close, in 2027.

8.2006JY26

Chance of collision - 1 chance out of 86.
Estimated date - May 3, 2074 1:00

A tiny asteroid with a diameter of only 8 meters was recorded on the screens of telescopes in May 2006. And although compared with other participants in the rating, the probability of its collision with the Earth is quite high, because of its size, the “space threat” causes only peppy laughter.

Most likely, the baby expects a fiery end in the upper atmosphere. The inhabitants of the Earth will be able to observe this in 2074.

7.2008UB7

Chance of collision - 1 chance out of 36 101.
Estimated date is October 31, 2060 18:26

The sixty-meter asteroid 2008UB7 was discovered, as the name suggests, in 2008, in October, seven days before it approached the Earth at a distance of 6.3 million km.

Although, judging by the range of the flight, it is hardly worth fearing its fall in the near foreseeable future, scientists have already calculated the estimated power of the explosion. It turned out to be equal to 16 megatons of TNT. Whether it is so or not, humanity will find out in October 2060, when 2008UB7 will again approach our planet.

6.2009JF1

Chance of collision - 1 chance out of 4464.
Estimated date is May 6, 2022 8:12

Well, in fact, who gave these scientists telescopes in their hands! That's just a year after the discovery of danger at number 6, they discovered another threat to the Earth in the dark depths of space.

Fortunately, the diameter of the danger is not the most outstanding - only 13 meters. But we will meet him earlier than everyone else - in June 2022. Judging by the diameter of the threat, humanity is likely to survive this meeting. Unless it gets the opportunity to admire a small, albeit bright, fiery cloud that suddenly blossomed high in the sky.

5.99942 Apophis

Chance of collision - 1 chance out of 531,914.
Estimated date - April 12, 2068 15:13

A rather dramatic story is associated with this asteroid, the only one on the list to get its own name. Opened it in 2004 in Australia. A distant (so far) cosmic body from us has a diameter of 375 meters, and judging by the calculations of scientists, it belongs to the so-called. Aton asteroids.

This means that part of the orbit of such asteroids intersects with the orbit of our planet. Of course, this observation did not bode well for the Earth. Excited scientists made calculations, and it turned out that in 2029, blind cosmic force would strike at our world. We calculated the probability of this event - it turned out to be 3%. Therefore, the asteroid was honored with its own name, in honor of a particularly cruel god from the Egyptian pantheon, who had one, but important goal in life: to destroy the Sun.

Fortunately, everything turned out to be far from so terrible, and you can not stock up with cans of stew in anticipation of the coming apocalypse. In the next year, 2005, new studies of the asteroid showed that in 2029 it will be tangent. And the inhabitants of the Northern hemisphere can even see it with their own eyes in the sky in the form of a luminous dot. And on this all his "adventures" will end.

4. 2000SG344

Chance of collision - 1 chance out of 2096.
Estimated date - September 16, 2071 00:26

Until December 2004, it was believed that this small celestial body with a diameter of only 30 meters had the highest chance of meeting us directly. True, on a risk scale, its impact was rated as small. Still, this asteroid is very small and, most likely, would have burned beautifully in the upper atmosphere.

Later, he had a competitor (the fifth place in the rating of space threats - Apophis), and everyone forgot about the baby. Still, 700 meters is not your 30. And later it turned out that the probability of a collision is also small - 1 chance out of 417.

By the way, very interesting rumors circulate about this small celestial body. Orbit 2000SG344 is very reminiscent of the earth. According to scientists, in 1971 this star wanderer once again visited the surroundings of our planet. And what else happened in 1971 such a space? That's right, just then another Apollo class rocket, version 14, was launched.

The astronauts flew to the moon and returned, bringing with them as a souvenir about 50 kg of lunar soil. And these two circumstances suggest that the cosmic body is not so cosmic, and maybe even quite man-made. For example, it may be the remains of a Saturn-class launch vehicle. In the end, the precedent was already when some scientists considered the SIVB carrier rocket floating in space many years after the Apollo 12 flight as a natural asteroid.

3.2019DS1

Chance of collision - 1 chance out of 787.
Estimated date - February 26, 2082 19:15

This is a beginner in the ranks of the most dangerous space objects for the Earth. They opened 2019DS1 quite recently, at the end of February 2019, when it once again flew past the Earth.

This year, the distance from the asteroid to our planet was quite large - 726 thousand. And, add, quite safe.

The next time a celestial guest passes through the orbit of the Earth in 2082. At this time, 2019DS1 will try to establish closer contact with the Earth, having flown to a distance of only 165 thousand. And there is little, but the chance that it suddenly changes the trajectory it will fall on our heads.

2. 1979XB

The probability of a collision is 1 / 1.84E6.
Estimated date is December 14, 2113 18:07

In second place potential asteroid threats to humanity, according to Sentry, is an asteroid discovered 700 years ago by Australian astronomers with a diameter of as much as 700 meters.

It will take a long time to wait for a potential collision, because even in the case of the most unfavorable scenario, an asteroid will reach us only in 2113. However, its diameter makes it even wary of an insignificant chance of 1 / 1.84E6. But what if?

If so, the consequences for Earth can be disastrous. The earth's surface bears many traces of a collision with uninvited guests - like a giant Canadian crater with a diameter of 200 km, formed from the impact of an asteroid with a diameter of 5-10 km.

The second place in the rating, of course, is smaller, but it can dig a hole a couple of kilometers wide, as his brother, who formed the Burringer Crater in the USA, has already done 50 thousand years ago. And if the place of impact of a meteorite falls on a densely populated city? If the worst-case scenario is realized, only one consolation is that we, dear readers, will not live to see this gloomy date.

1.2010RF12

Chance of collision - 1 chance out of 16.
Estimated date - September 5, 2095 23:50

The greatest danger from space to Earth is the asteroid 2010RF12. Its diameter is modest - only 9 meters, but it will crash into the Earth with the highest probability of all those listed. According to scientists, it is 5%.

2010RF12 was already taking place dangerously close to the Earth, at a distance of only 79 thousand. True, only penguins could admire it, since it was visible only from the South Pole. Fortunately, due to the small diameter of the 2010RF12, it is unlikely to be able to cause significant damage and is likely to collapse in the atmosphere.

The maximum that the asteroid will be capable of - an impressive ball of fire, as if at a rock concert. The power of the explosion will be inferior to the Chelyabinsk, which, as we recall, was 17 meters in diameter.

Does this mean that the danger from outer space to the Earth is greatly exaggerated? Scientists themselves say that the asteroids visible as invisible are not so terrible. For example, the same Chelyabinsk meteorite was not recorded by a single observatory until it smashed glass in the houses of residents of the city. Who knows what unknown danger is creeping up to us from the vast darkness of space? Can the Earth avoid death? Not us, so our descendants will certainly find out about this.

Watch the video: Tracking Millions of Space Objects Threatening Earth (May 2025).