POTENTIALLY dangerous asteroids shoot past Earth every year as scientists keep a close eye on them in case they veer off course.
However, the close encounters have some scientists worried that humanity is ill-prepared if a large space rock does head straight toward Earth.
GettyNasa keeps an eye on asteroids that make close approaches to Earth and rates them on a scale that measures how bad the impact would be[/caption]
According to Live Science, last year saw 122 close asteroid approaches.
In 2023, over 50 close encounters are said to have happened.
These asteroids vary in size and the speed they’re traveling, but even a small space rock could do some damage if it struck Earth.
Scientists use a scale called the Torino Impact Hazard Scale to measure how devastating an asteroid’s impact would be.
The scale ranges from zero to 10, with zero meaning there is no hazard.
An asteroid rated as a Torino 1 would be considered normal with no unusual level of danger.
Torino 2 to 4 is considering the yellow zone which would mean the asteroid merits close attention from experts and could potentially cause regional devastation.
Torino 5 to 7 is the red zone that warrants critical attention and maybe even an international contingency plan.
Torino 8 to 10 is where things get the most concerning.
Even an asteroid rated Torino 8 is certain to hit Earth, according to Nasa’s Torino scale.
That type of space rock could cause a tsunami.
Torino 10 events could cause a global climatic catastrophe and threaten the future of civilization.
The good news is, a Torino 10 asteroid impact is only expected to happen once every 100,000 years or even less often than this.
Some experts are worried that Earth isn’t yet ready to defend itself from potentially deadly asteroids.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk previously sparked concern by tweeting: “A big rock will hit Earth eventually & we currently have no defense.”
Nasa is looking into some defense methods though.
That’s why it launched its Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission last year and proved it could alert the orbital path of an asteroid called Dimorphos.
It’s hoped this kind of technology could protect us from an asteroid threat if we face one.