What are the chances of an asteroid strike?
Reports of asteroids passing nearby are becoming increasingly common. Dr Gareth Dorrian comments on the likelihood of one hitting the Earth.
Credit: Urikyo33 / Pixabay
"Asteroids pass close to Earth quite a few times a year but typically involve objects of just a few meters in size which would burn up in the Earth's atmosphere if they hit us, posing no threat.
"The recent up-tick in near-Earth object reports is likely an example of observer bias, which is to say that as our detection technology has improved we are detecting more such near-Earth objects when they pass close by, rather than any significant natural up-tick in the actual number of them passing through our planetary neighbourhood."
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