Serious asteroid strike that could wipe out humanity is 'just a matter of time',- Exp

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A surprise asteroid strike that could wipe out humanity is 'just a matter of time', warns leading astrophysicist

Over 1,800 potentially hazardous objects in spacehave been discovered so far
Top astrophysicist Alan Fitzsimmons said there are more asteroids to be found
In January an asteroid passed by Earth at a distance half that of the moon
We are much better at finding larger asteroids but 'that does us no good if we are not prepared to do something about them', the expert warned

By Phoebe Weston For Mailonline

Published: 16:00 BST, 20 June 2017 | Updated: 16:00 BST, 20 June 2017

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A leading astrophysicist has warned the next asteroid strike is just a matter of time as thousands of potentially threatening objects circle Earth.

Dr Alan Fitzsimmons has said it is a case of when an asteroid collision will happen, rather than if it will happen, with more asteroids being discovered every day.

An unexpected strike in today's world could easily destroy a major city and a larger one could potentially wipe out humanity, the expert warned.

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If the flying rock, which is 230 metres (755 feet) in diameter, were to strike Earth experts believe it would have an impact 300 times greater than Hiroshima bomb (stock image)

A leading astrophysicist has warned the next asteroid strike is just a matter of time as potentially thousands of threatening objects are circling in space
TUNGUSKA MYSTERY

Dr Alan Fitzsimmons is highlighting the threat for Asteroid Day, a global event next Friday.

On that day in 1908, a massive explosion ripped through the sky over the Tunguska region of Siberia, flattening trees nearly 31 miles around.

The blast is thought to have been produced by a comet or asteroid hurtling through Earth's atmosphere at over 33,500 miles per hour, resulting in an explosion equal to 185 Hiroshima bombs as pressure and heat rapidly increased.

Eighty million trees had been laid flat in the blast, and the charred carcasses of reindeer were found by the hundreds.

The object likely entered the atmosphere at 9-19 miles per second, and would have been extremely fragile, destroying itself roughly six miles above Earth.

But, with no impact crater and little evidence of such an object ever found, scientists remain perplexed as to what truly caused the event in which 'the sky was split in two'.

The possibility of an asteroid explosion was first proposed in 1927 by Leonid Kulik, 20 years after the event.

Others suggested the space-object may instead have been a comet, made up of ice rather than rock, meaning it would have evaporated as it entered Earth's atmosphere.

'It is important to know that scientists and engineers have made great strides in detecting Near-Earth Asteroids and understanding the threat posed by them', said Dr Fitzsimmons from Queen’s University Belfast Astrophysics Research Centre.

'Over 1,800 potentially hazardous objects have been discovered so far, but there are many more waiting to be found.

'Astronomers find Near-Earth Asteroids every day and most are harmless.'

'But it is still possible the next Tunguska would take us by surprise, and although we are much better at finding larger asteroids, that does us no good if we are not prepared to do something about them', he said.

Joined by scientist Brian Cox and astronauts such as Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart and International Space Station astronaut Nicole Stott, Dr Fitzsimmons is highlighting the threat for Asteroid Day, a global event next Friday.

On that day in 1908, a small asteroid exploded over Tunguska in Siberia and devastated 800 square miles.

The blast is thought to have been produced by a comet or asteroid hurtling through Earth's atmosphere at over 33,500mph, resulting in an explosion equal to 185 Hiroshima bombs as pressure and heat rapidly increased.

The object likely entered the atmosphere at 9-19 miles per second, and would have been extremely fragile, destroying itself roughly six miles above Earth.

In January 2017, an asteroid as big as a 10-story building passed by Earth at a distance half that of the Moon.



This one-mile-wide Metero Crater in Arizona was caused by a small 50-metre asteroid impacting 49,000 years ago. An unexpected strike in today's world could easily destroy a major city, Dr Alan Fitzsimmons said

And experts have previously warned that humans are not prepared for an asteroid impact and, should one head for Earth, there's not much we can do about it.

Asteroids are hunks of rocky space debris, left over from the creation of the planets, which whizz around our solar system, orbiting the sun.

From time to time they cross paths with us and, while impacts on the scale of the infamous 6.2-mile (10km) 'dinosaur-destroyer' are rare, an asteroid a fifth the size could spell disaster for civilisation.
Dr Fitzsimmons (pictured) from Queen’s University Belfast Astrophysics Research Centre said it is a case of when an asteroid collision will happen, rather than if it will happen

Dr Fitzsimmons (pictured) from Queen’s University Belfast Astrophysics Research Centre said it is a case of when an asteroid collision will happen, rather than if it will happen

With energy greater than 10 million Hiroshima bombs, the impact shock would flatten everything within a 186-mile (300km) radius.

Dust and debris would cause an 'impact winter' and most living things would perish.

Alternatively, an ocean strike would trigger monumental tsunamis, obliterate entire coastlines and inject seawater into the atmosphere, destroying huge swathes of the ozone layer and exposing survivors to devastating levels of UV radiation.

Dr Joseph Nuth, is a researcher at Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland, and proposed the idea.

Speaking in December 2016, he said: 'The biggest problem, basically, is there's not a hell of a lot we can do about it at the moment.'

'They are the extinction-level events, things like dinosaur killers, they're 50 to 60 million years apart, essentially.'

'You could say, of course, we're due, but it's a random course at that point.'


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