The fear of the end of the world has existed forever. In fact, predictions and announcements of a possible apocalypse have been made for thousands of years, even before the coming of Christ and, therefore, the first years of our time.
Already in the VIII century BC. C. A myth indicated that dates back to the destruction of the then world power: Rome and its empire, and the world that was under its power. And, after this prophecy, came many others who also predicted a catastrophic end for man and, of course, for the earth.
In recent times, these fears have mutated and adapted to new knowledge and new scientific tools. What’s more, the most recent announcements about the end of the world have been based, on several occasions, on possible collisions of the blue planet with asteroids or comets that transit in orbits similar to Earth’s.
last announcement of the end of the world
And that’s exactly what’s happening with the near-announced end of the world: an end that comes just weeks away and that warns of a possible collision between our planet and an asteroid discovered a year ago.
It was in January 2022 when scientists from the European Space Agency’s Astronomical Institute announced that they had discovered a new asteroid: 2022 AE1. It was a small island-sized body in the Solar System and which, according to some astronomers, could hit Earth neither more nor less this coming summer, specifically on July 4, 2023.
Initial observations of the asteroid also prompted scientists to consider deflecting the asteroid because its size could cause catastrophic damage if it collided with the Blue Planet. An ESA astronomer, Marco Micheli, even went so far as to claim that asteroid 2022 AE1 had “the highest extent on the Palermo scale” that he and his colleagues had seen “in more than a decade”. “In my nearly 10 years at the European Space Agency, I have never seen such a dangerous object,” he said.
The Palermo scale is a tool used to indicate the post-impact hazard of asteroids based on a combination of their likelihood of hitting Earth and the energy with which they could crash into our planet.
Shortly after, data collected by ESA suggested that the asteroid would pass close to Earth this summer, but not close enough to pose a real threat. Laura Fagioli, an expert in measuring the trajectories of objects passing near the blue planet, explained it this way: “The data was clear and was confirmed by our NASA counterparts the next morning. Asteroid 2022 AE1 does not present an impact risk; now We’ll have to move on to the next one.”
However, some observers continue to monitor the asteroid that will fly past Earth this summer and pose a threat to the planet in January 2022.
