Forget Santa, someone is writing a letter to Bruce Willis! An enormous asteroid on Christmas Day is heading towards Earth at 14,000 mph.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year… or, had it not been for the current pandemic, the general misfortune of 2020 and the paralyzing feeling of fear that rages almost all year round.
Christmas will be a little different this time. We will all have to make changes to our usual, probably hectic, festivities. Smaller houses, swinging outside houses instead of hugs. Oh, to sweeten the note, a giant asteroid is also coming our way.
It’s wild above the atmosphere, up there in the great unknown, with asteroids flying towards Earth at high speeds. It happens all the time, although it would be a big cause for concern if someone were at risk of colliding directly with Earth, they usually fly right past us. Sometimes meteorites fall to the surface, but rarely do they cause major damage or damage.
We expect a number of asteroids through Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve, a small asteroid passes 733,288 miles away.
But when we all open our presents and drink chocolate and maybe enjoy a little drink, a mighty rock will pass by our planet.
The beautifully titled Asteroid 501647 (2014 SD224) will make its way past Earth on Dec. 25 at 8:20 p.m. EST, around 1:20 a.m. GMT. It has a diameter of 92-210 feet, so it could be larger than Seattle’s Space Needle.
It is currently running at over 22,000 mph. For reference, that’s over 10 times faster than a .50 caliber bullet, 16 times faster than Concorde and 791 times faster than Usain Bolt running through the air.
Unfortunately for stargazers, don’t expect 501647 to fly above the clouds on Christmas Day like Santa’s sleigh. It won’t be visible from Earth, so don’t worry about closing your eyes, falling asleep, and missing something.
You would probably have a better chance of seeing Santa Claus as he finishes delivery, as the asteroid will be 1,877,410 miles from us.
The only Deep consequences we must be concerned about this Christmas is the emotional turmoil of existence on Earth.