TOMSK, Jan 27 – RIA Tomsk. Tomsk residents should not be afraid of the end of the world, which supposedly could come on February 1, 2019: information about a possible collision of Earth with an asteroid on this day is incorrect, the associate professor of the Astronomy and Space Geodesy Faculty of Physics of Tomsk State University (TSU) Tatyana Galushina told RIA Tomsk.
Internet users are actively discussing the likelihood of the end of the world on February 1, 2019. On this day, the Earth allegedly could collide with asteroid 2002 NT7. It was discovered on June 9, 2002 by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Laboratory in the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Socorro, New Mexico (Southwest USA).
“According to 2002 data, the probability of a 2002 NT7 collision with the Earth on February 1, 2019 was actually detected. Since the object was more than 1.4 km in diameter, (scientists) actively observed it. And later, the observation results made it possible to exclude not only a collision, but even an approach with the Earth ", - Galushina commented.
The interlocutor specified that the asteroid 2002 NT7 was removed from the monitoring system of objects dangerous for the Earth in August 2002, that is, two months after detection.
According to Galushina, as predicted, on January 13, 2019, the asteroid safely passed the Earth at a distance of 61 million kilometers, which is approximately equal to 0.4 astronomical units.
“It’s even difficult to call this a convergence! .. One astronomical unit - is the distance from the Earth to the Sun. <...> There is no threat from asteroids known to science in the near future. The problem is that we know far from all objects and most collisions occurred unexpectedly. In particular, the Chelyabinsk meteor (fell to Earth in 2013 - Ed.) was discovered only when it entered the atmosphere", - Galushina added.