The real threat of an asteroid Asteroid 2007 FT3

There are four different questions raised regarding Asteroid 2007 FT3, The first and most important is that there is no possibility of an impact of this asteroid for October 5, 2024 or rather the possibility of an impact is extremely small, but let's go in parts.

The first question, it is true that NASA lost track shortly after this asteroid was discovered in 2007, the answer is yes, NASA and the rest of the institutions and agencies that study asteroids, why does NASA not have a monopoly on the space research as some media seem to show.

All those who investigate asteroids lost track of this one in particular, but losing their track is normal, especially with small asteroids because this is not a giant or large asteroid, it is a medium-sized asteroid; 2007 FT3 is only about 340 meters in diameter and this type of asteroid is difficult to observe. Asteroids are usually quite dark and if there is no good data on their trajectory, a margin of uncertainty is created about their location. In fact, thousands or thousands of asteroids are lost. tens of thousands of asteroids and most end up being located again after a while, as also happened with this one in particular.

Astronomers are not superheroes, they are humans and they work with the tools that exist that are not precisely those that appear in science fiction.

Second question; It can collide with the Earth on October 5, 2024 because, as I said before, no, the risk of impact is ridiculous. It is one possibility in more than 11 million. In fact, current calculations affirm that this asteroid will be found on October 3, 2024. 2024, 250 million kilometers from us, that is 650 times the distance that separates us from the moon.

The third question, if it were to impact, it would do so with a Power of 2,600 million tons of TNT, then possibly yes, since the damage caused by asteroids is mainly a function of mass and speed, the more mass and the more speed, the greater it will be. the damage and the energy released. Although other factors such as composition come into play, if the asteroid is dense and metallic it will impact like a cannonball, but if it is a ball of piled up debris it will break up in a shower of rocks, but everything This is not going to happen, it will not happen in October 2024, nor in the future since an impact with the Earth is ruled out for at least 100 years.

And finally, it would be capable of causing a mass extinction in the event of an impact, well the answer is no, not only because the impact will not occur, it is that even if it did occur it would cause a lot of damage but at a regional level perhaps in an area of ​​several hundred of thousands of square kilometers and may also temporarily alter the planet's climate for a couple of years, but the rest of the world would move on.

To talk about extinction it would have to be a much larger asteroid, at least several kilometers in diameter and this one I repeat is only about 340 meters, we are not talking about kilometers, we are talking about meters, at this point you may be asking why the The media talks about this asteroid, to attract an audience, to attract an audience through the method of fear.

After being discovered in 2007 and for a time it was on the impact risk list, that is true, it was the fourth largest asteroid with a cumulative probability of being able to impact the earth and it sounds shocking, it sounds somewhat serious, but it is that that chance was one in 2 million of hitting the earth with something really small and the probability continued to decrease to ridiculous limits.

For October 5, 2024 it is 1 possibility in more than 11 million, there is no risk of impact with this asteroid, this asteroid does not pose a threat to the Earth in the next 100 years, although it is on the list of potentially dangerous asteroids because This does not mean that in the distant future within several centuries or perhaps in a few millennia there is no real risk of impact with the Earth and also, as always, there are still many small asteroids to be discovered that can cause significant local damage in the event of impact with us.

Because impact, they will end up impacting, happened in the past and will happen in the future, that is why it is very important that humanity improves its detection systems and has a good planetary defense plan, if we achieve this we will have raised our level as a civilization we will be a civilization capable of protecting our planet from the threat of asteroids and comets.

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