Neil deGrasse Tyson Warns Asteroid Could Strike Earth Night Before US Election

According to astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, an asteroid is heading for Earth and may clip the planet before the US presidential election on November 2. "So if the World ends in 2020, it won’t be the fault of the Universe," the astrophysicist said.

The famed astrophysicist posted a photo of the giant space rock, known as 2018VP1, on his Instagram, saying the asteroid is hurtling towards Earth at an estimated speed of 21,300 miles per hour. But “it’s not big enough to cause harm”, he added.

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Asteroid 2018VP1, a refrigerator-sized space-rock, is hurtling towards us at more than 25,000 mi/hr. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It may buzz-cut Earth on Nov. 2, the day before the Presidential Election. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ But it’s not big enough to cause harm. So if the World ends in 2020, it won’t be the fault of the Universe.

Публикация от Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neildegrassetyson) 17 Окт 2020 в 6:40 PDT

The asteroid 2018VP1 has been on the radar since November 2018, when it was first detected by the Palomar Observatory in California.

However, 2018VP1 "poses no threat to Earth," NASA said in a statement.

Asteroid 2018VP1 is very small, approx. 6.5 feet, and poses no threat to Earth! It currently has a 0.41% chance of entering our planet’s atmosphere, but if it did, it would disintegrate due to its extremely small size.

— NASA Asteroid Watch (@AsteroidWatch) August 23, 2020