What If the Largest-Known Asteroid Hits Earth?

Feb 19, 2024, 12:50 IST

Harshit Sabarwal

All images: NASA

Feb 19, 2024, 12:50 IST

Harshit Sabarwal

Which is the Largest-Known Asteroid?

Vesta is the largest known Asteroid. It is almost spherical, and so is nearly classified as a dwarf planet, according to NASA.

How Big is Vesta from Chicxulub Asteroid?

Vesta asteroid has a diameter of over 500 kilometres. The Chicxulub asteroid that killed dinosaurs was somewhere between 10 and 15 kilometres in diameter.

How is Vesta Different from Other Asteroids?

Unlike most known asteroids, Vesta has separated into crust, mantle and core. Vesta has one of the largest brightness ranges observed on any rocky body in our solar system.

What Happens if Vesta Hits Earth?

According to popular astronomy YouTuber AstroKobi, Vesta would enter the atmosphere at 20 kilometres per second. Upon impact, the destruction would be equivalent to billions of atomic bombs, AstroKobi says. He adds that material from the impact would be thrown up into the atmosphere before raining down fire onto most parts of the Earth.

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