A comet with a mass of 500 trillion tonnes and a width of 137 kilometers (85 miles) is coming our way at 35.405 kilometers per hour (22 miles per hour), according to NASA’s Hubble telescope.
The above comet was initially discovered in 2010, but Hubble has now confirmed its size, which is larger than any comet ever discovered by astronomers.
How Did NASA Find This Comet?
Will The Comet Hit Earth?
We shouldn’t be concerned since the closest it will come to the sun is more than a billion kilometers away, and that won’t happen until 2031, despite the fact that it will be visible from Earth.
How To Prevent Comet From Hitting Earth?
We will never see a surprise comet or asteroid ever hitting Earth. Any comet or asteroid that is headed in our path, we can predict years and years ahead.
However, if a comet was to come in the direct path to collide with Earth, there are a few things that we can do.
For the simulation, NASA specialists created a scenario in which scientists find an asteroid in March 2019 that may hit Earth in April 2027.
It’s a made-up but plausible scenario, completely filled out so that scientists, engineers, legislators, and emergency-management professionals can work through the problems and concerns that would arise if such a threat is ever discovered.
These experts found out that forcing an asteroid into a new path is extremely difficult; instead, the trick is to slow or accelerate a space rock to the point when it reaches the dangerous spot in its orbit before or after Earth has arrived.
With eight years between discovery and impact on the timeline in the scenario, planetary defense specialists have two options.
The first method is to place a huge spacecraft in the asteroid’s path, and the asteroid will collide with it and slow down slightly. If your impactor is large enough and captures the asteroid with plenty of time to spare, you might be able to prevent the asteroid from colliding with Earth in 2027.
The second method is to detonate a nuclear explosion above the asteroid’s surface, causing a portion of the asteroid’s surface to melt and the rest of the space rock to recoil.
Obviously, no one wants to witness this incident in real life. However, we have a plan in place and are prepared to go if the need arises.
