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| Illustration of an asteroid. Even in the main belt the asteroid density is very low. On average, distances of millions of miles separate even the closest members. Most of them, as this artist's impression shows, are lone wanderers. |
A huge chunk of space rock - which has been compared to the size of the Great Pyramid - will hurtle past our planet later this month.
But (despite reports from tabloid news outlets), it’s not time to head to the doomsday bunkers quite yet.
Yes, asteroid 2019 OU1 is fairly large (it’s thought to be 233ft to 524ft across), but it’s not a ‘planet killer’ or even a ‘city killer’.
It’s also going to miss us by a fairly large margin on August 28, shooting past at around 639,000 miles away (equal to two and a half the distance of the moon).
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| Asteroids, also referred to as minor planets, are small, rocky bodies floating mostly in the asteroid belt – between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. They are mainly made of materials (metal or rock) left over from the formation of the inner solar system. |
It's also nowhere near the size of the sort of 'planet killer' asteroid which killed the dinosaurs.
It’s not too much bigger than an asteroid which exploded over Chelyabinsk six years ago.
During the 2013 Chelyabinsk event, 1500 people were injured and 7300 buildings damaged by the intense overpressure generated by the shockwave at Earth’s surface.
