NASA Warns Giant Asteroid May Hit Earth in December 2019: Fact Check

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NASA warning! || This asteroid may hit Earth in December 2019

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This Asteroid May Hit Earth in 2019! During Christmas time…

Fact Check:

Some messages and videos doing rounds online mention an alleged warning from NASA claiming a Giant Asteroid May Hit Earth in December 2019 during Christmas time. One video accompanying the message carries the below text claiming the potentially hazardous Asteroid may hit our planet on 28th December and destroy an entire continent. Not to worry, the claims as such are not entirely true and there’s no serious impending danger from the asteroid.

GD37 was discovered in 2010. It’s a potentially hazardous Asteroid. Its diameter is 1.2 Kilometer and weighs 2.7 Trillion kilograms. According to NASA astronomers, on 28 December 2019 with a speed of 28 Km per second this asteroid may hit our Planet Earth with a force of 260,000 Megatons. The chances of this asteroid hitting earth are very low, about one in 1,400,000,000. And if that happens, it can destroy an entire continent.

2010 GD37 Asteroid May Hit Earth?

According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the giant Asteroid named 2010 GD37 measures more than 4,100ft in diameter. After observing the asteroid between 5th April 2010 and 9th April 2010, NASA in fact predicted 31 potential dates between 2019 and 2101, on which the asteroid may hit Earth. Other dates include December 2022, December 2024 and December 2027. Notably, NASA’s asteroid trackers have warned the asteroid risks striking the Earth on 28th December 2019 – if it suddenly veers off-course for some reason. But the good news is, the risk is minimal – one in 1,400,000,000 odds of cataclysm or a 99.99999993 percent chance the asteroid will miss.

To verify the veracity of the warning, we checked the website of NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies. The Asteroid 2010 GD37 is listed with a Torino Scale impact hazard of Zero, meaning the likelihood of a collision is zero, or is so low as to be effectively zero. Torino Scale range is from 0-10 with probability of impact increasing with number.

To conclude, NASA did not actually issue a warning about the impact of asteroid 2010 GD37. It is one among many asteroids NASA keeps monitoring. Some dodgy YouTube channels and media outlets sensationalized the NASA observations of the giant asteroid. The description of the video mentioned above also mentions – the chances of this asteroid hitting earth are very low, about one in 1,400,000,000. Asteroid impacts are in fact very rare. On the other hand, on an average, studies suggest between 18,000 and 84,000 meteorites bigger than 10 grams reach the Earth each year.