translated from Spanish: Scientists clear rumors about asteroid that could collide with Earth in April

home International Scientists clear rumors about asteroid that could collide with Earth in April

World.- A space threat has raised fears on social media and other media recently. Rumor has it that in April 2020 an asteroid more than four kilometers long cataloged by NASA could hit Earth. Experts have their say.
The issue dates back to 1998, when the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) found a NASA institute charged with studying the trajectory of asteroids and comets approaching our planet, it found an “object potentially dangerous.”
The object, which periodically approaches Earth’s orbit, was designated as 52768 (1998 OR2). According to CNEOS, it has dimensions of 1.8 kilometers wide by 4.1 kilometers long and will approach us on April 29th.
However, astronomers stressed that there is no sign that the star will crash into Earth in the coming decades, and this has been reiterated by the subject matter expert James O’Donoghue on Twitter to calm internet users.
“Hello, Earth. As for the asteroid that’s on the news, 52768 (1998 OR2), it’s going to happen at a distance, sixteen times that’s going to be longer than our moon! I put that distance by scale in the following diagram (…)”, clarifies the expert in his tweet.
Source: Sputnik

Original source in Spanish