An asteroid on a collision course with the Earth

The 2018 VP1 asteroid may be on a collision course with Earth. The contact will probably take place in early November.

As the name suggests, the asteroid 2018 VP1 was discovered in 2018, but we are only learning about the collision course now. This is because it is extremely difficult to predict the trajectories of small objects.

The asteroid can pass the Earth between 7,500 km and 418,000 km. This is a long range, so it is not known what the final fate of 2018 VP1 will be.

The chances of an object entering the Earth’s atmosphere are 1: 240. Even if this happens, it will not pose any threat, neither local nor global. The asteroid is just over 2 meters in diameter. If it actually enters the Earth’s atmosphere, it will ignite as a bright car and then break into tiny pieces.

The 2018 VP1 asteroid is rated on the Palermo scale of -3.57. Events with a parameter P lower than -2 do not pose any threat. Objects with a P parameter between 0 and -2 indicate situations that require careful monitoring.

Small asteroids regularly enter the Earth’s atmosphere during the annual Perseid rain. The greatest known risk of an asteroid hitting Earth is a collision with an object measuring 128 m in diameter, which is expected to occur within 861 years. Even such a facility has 99.988 percent. chance to bypass the Earth.

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