That 2020 Asteroid Is Almost Here (Not Kidding)
I thought, with all that was going wrong in 2020, the asteroid would hit us about a month after the alien invasion, and just before the Yellowstone eruption. Some time around October or November.
To be clear - this will be another near miss.
NASA has been keeping tabs on this somewhat massive asteroid that has been coming at us for a while. But why tell us about it right away? That would ruin more than one year, wouldn't it?
If you want to see the asteroid's course, you can visit the space agencies website here. Clicking on that link is up to you. Some people want to see it coming, some don't.
NASA has estimated this thing to be about 1,100 feet wide. That puts it around the size of a football stadium.
You would think they would have given something like this a cool name. NOPE. they named it 2002 NN4. -- BORING. I vote we call it Nelson. It gives the thing a little personality.
Nelson will pass by Earth on June 6th. It's closest pass will be about 3,160,000 miles away. You can watch an animation of Nelson swinging past the Earth over and over again - here.
Watching the above animation, you will see that Nelson - I do like that name - is in it's own orbit around the sun. That independent orbit crosses over Earth's orbit roughly once a year. That means we will see Nelson many more times.
By the way, Nelson is not alone. Why would he be? This is 2020 after all. It turns out there are three others the size of a plane and one the size of a house also making their way toward Earth over the next few days.
OH - wow - would that make them THE 4 HORSEMEN?
But don't worry, there are not any concerns from the other 3. The closest one is expected to come within 1,830,000 miles of Earth on Wednesday.