NASA continues to observe asteroids approaching Earth through the Near Earth Object Program. NASA compiled a list of oscillating asteroids in the Solar System and calculated the likelihood of a collision with Earth for the next 100 years. (Read also; Scientists Find the Cause of Doomsday from Asteroid Collision 66 Million Years Ago )
According to NASA, if an asteroid comes within 4.6 million miles and is larger than about 150 meters, then it is considered a potentially dangerous object. For the asteroid 2014 YE15 is not considered a dangerous object because of its relatively small size and quite far from Earth.
However, if the asteroid hit Earth as large as 12.8 meters it could cause severe damage. In 1908, an asteroid about 36.5 meters (120 ft) wide entered the atmosphere over Siberia, traveling at a speed of about 33,500 miles per hour, and exploded in the sky. The asteroid released the energy equivalent of about 185 Hiroshima bombs, flattening the entire forest.
Asteroid 2014 YE15 was first identified at the Mount Lemmon Observatory during a 2014 survey of a near-Earth object. According to the Minor Planet Center the asteroid was discovered on December 28 of that year, just two days before it flew about three times the Earth-Moon distance. (Read also; 6 Asteroids That Pass Near And Threatening Earth Throughout 2021 )
Quoted from the inverse page, in 2013, an asteroid as high as 20 meters (66 feet) exploded over Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia with the same energy as about 26 to 33 atomic bomb explosions. It shattered windows, damaged several buildings, and left 1,500 people hospitalized for side effects such as broken glass.
(wib)
– – .
