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On June 21, 2008, Earth may collide with an 800-meter asteroid...
At the end of April, a celestial body called 2006 HZ51 was discovered, and subsequent calculations revealed 165 possible dates for its contact with Earth.
Astronomers currently estimate the probability of a catastrophe at one in six million, but this figure may change as the trajectory is refined.
The asteroid remains the largest on NASA's list of potentially hazardous near-Earth objects. In addition, the two-year period remaining until the close approach makes it impossible to adjust its orbit using known methods. According to employees of the B612 Foundation (which tracks dangerous celestial bodies and is named after the asteroid mentioned by Saint-Exupéry in "The Little Prince"), such measures require decades, reports Lenta.ru.
For comparison, the chances of a 400-meter asteroid, 99942 Apophis, discovered in 2004, hitting Earth are at least a thousand times greater. But, since there are still more than 30 years until the expected collision, astronomers say that it will not be difficult to influence its trajectory.
An encounter with a large asteroid could dramatically change the climate across the entire Earth. If the impact site is the ocean, it will cause a tsunami and release billions of tons of water vapor into the atmosphere. Otherwise, dust will rise into the air, which will block sunlight from reaching the planet's surface. According to one hypothesis, a similar event 65 million years ago led to the extinction of the dinosaurs.
What do you think? :cool: