Top 10 Terrifying Asteroids
#10: 99942 Apophis
We may as well mention now that these asteroids don’t exactly have the catchiest of names! Apophis is perhaps the most famous modern asteroid, mostly because in 2004 it scared the hell out of everyone. Initial observations suggested that the 370-meter diameter asteroid had an almost 3% chance of hitting Earth in 2029. As of observations conducted in 2015 however, the asteroid only has a 1 in 110,000 chance of hitting Earth before 2106. That said, it will pass within just 19,000 miles in 2029, making it visible to the naked eye! If it deviates even SLIGHTLY off course…well, let’s not think about that. In fact, Elon Musk says not to worry about it, so we’re not. Nope. Totally not worrying about it.
#9: 2001 WN5
Discovered in November of 2001 by the Lowell Observatory Near-Earth-Object Search, this asteroid over half a mile in diameter! In June 2028 it will pass within just 155,000 miles of Earth - closer than the Moon! Unlike Apophis, which will be visible to the naked eye the following year, WN5 will only be visible with binoculars. Fortunately, just two months after its discovery, it was removed from the Sentry Risk Table, a coveted system that researches and monitors the danger of near-Earth asteroids. But that’s still a pretty big hunk of rock to be doing a flyby.
#8: 2000 WO107
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Fortunately, WO107 isn’t stopping by any time soon. It may be a problem later down the track though. Discovered back in 2000 by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research project, this 510-meter long asteroid will pass within 150,000 miles of Earth…in 2140. Assuming humanity survives until then (and there’s good reason to become increasingly worried about that), our grandkids’ grandkids’ grandkids might be able to spot WO107 zipping by with whatever fancy piece of technology they have then. Or it might hit them. Let’s hope that current calculations are correct!
#7: 1999 AN10
The late 2020s is going to be a real happenin’ time for asteroid and astrology enthusiasts. This asteroid 0.6 miles long will pass within 242,000 miles of Earth in 2027, only one year before WN5 and two years before the Apophis. This is about the distance between Earth and the Moon, and the asteroid should be visible through binoculars. This asteroid was officially discovered by the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research project back in 1999, although it actually passed within 580,000 miles of Earth back in August of 1946. It’s not close enough to panic about, but it’s still somewhat unnerving to consider that asteroids are always whizzing by in our interstellar neighborhood.
#6: 2004 FH & 2004 FU162
While we’re talking about asteroids whizzing by, we’ve gotta mention 2004 FH and 2004 FU162. Within a span of just two weeks back in 2004, these two asteroids came incredibly close to striking Earth. On March 31, FU162 came within just 4,000 miles, making it one of the closest approaches ever recorded. Luckily, the asteroid is only six meters in diameter, and it would have burned up in the atmosphere before striking the surface. Two weeks earlier, FH came within 27,000 miles, about the distance of some satellites. Experts theorize that this asteroid would have detonated in the atmosphere, resulting in a blast equivalent to hundreds of kilotons of TNT high up in the atmosphere.
#5: The 1972 Great Daylight Fireball
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Now this would certainly be a sight. On the evening of August 10, 1972, a very small comet or asteroid, measuring only three to fourteen meters in diameter, passed within a mere 35 miles of the Earth’s surface. It entered over Utah traveling at 9 miles per second, and one eyewitness reported hearing a double sonic boom after it passed overhead. It spent an accumulated 100 seconds in the Earth’s atmosphere before leaving our hospitable planet over Alberta, Canada. Some believe that the small asteroid is still in orbit with the Earth and even made another visit in August of 1997. That visit obviously wasn’t as memorable.
#4: Comet Hyakutake [AKA The Great Comet of 1996]
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Hopefully those of you around then enjoyed the Great Comet of 1996, because Earth won’t be seeing it for another 70,000 years! Beginning in early March of 1996, Comet Hyakutake became visible to the naked eye, and by March 24, the comet was one of the brightest objects in the sky. While the comet itself was easily observed, many people even reported seeing a noticeable bluish-green trail with the naked eye. And no wonder – the comet measured a massive 2.6 miles across. If that hit Earth, we would all be in big trouble! Luckily, it didn’t, and scientists learned a lot about comets thanks to its close passage.
#3: Chelyabinsk Meteor
It looks like a scene from the end of the world. But this is actually what local residents saw in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, on early February 5th, 2013. That’s one helluva way to start your morning! It was only 20 meters in diameter, but boy did it shine bright as it came down in a blaze of glory and exploded in mid-air. No one died, but it did cause property damage, injure at least 1,500 people, and scare the bejeezus out of thousand more. The fact it was so small, but had such a big impact, puts into perspective the kind of damage the bigger fellas on our list could do.
#2: The Tunguska Event
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The Tunguska Event is the closest humanity has ever come to asteroid-related devastation. At least that we know about! On the morning of June 30, 1908, a meteoroid measuring up to 190 meters exploded in the air over the Eastern Siberian Taiga in Russia. It is the largest impact event in recorded history, even though no one really knows how powerful it was – estimates range between 3 to 30 megatons of TNT, making it MUCH more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. If such an object landed on a modern city, said city would be completely glassed and wiped off the map. Luckily, it exploded over a sparsely populated area, levelling 80 million trees and flattening 830 square miles of forest!
#1: The Chicxulub Impactor
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The Chicxulub Impactor is probably the scariest thing to ever exist, and it serves as a grim reminder of life’s fragility within the universe. Experts believe that this is the asteroid that caused the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago, an event that wiped out three quarters of all life on Earth. The asteroid, which was between 7 to 50 miles in diameter, left behind a massive crater in Mexico, now known as the Chicxulub crater, and sent up enough debris to block out the sun and cause an extended impact winter. Imagine how scared and confused those poor dinosaurs were! 75% of all life wiped out just like that. It really makes you think…
