An astronomer reveals what not to do if a giant rock from outer space is hurtling towards Earth. What's that?
Quoted from News.com.au, Friday (11/26/2021) astronomer Swinburne and director of the Space Technology and Industry Institute Professor Alan Duffy said if an asteroid or meteor flew towards this planet, we should try not to see it even though we are very curious.
"The best advice is don't look at it. For God's sake. It might be hard not to watch it, but the glare from these things when they burn in the atmosphere is dangerous," he said in an I've Got News For You podcast chat.
"That's actually what caused so many injuries in Chelyabinsk. People are acting unreasonably by looking at the huge ball of fire burning in the sky, which is basically as bright as the Sun when it finally erupts. It causes a lot of retinal damage. So make sure you don't see it," he continued.
The last large space rock to enter Earth was the Chelyabinsk meteor that burned over Russia in February 2013. The light from the meteor was once brighter than the Sun and was visible up to 100 km away.
NASA has now embarked on a mission that could prevent a similar situation to the Chelyabinsk event. The United States national space agency NASA has just launched the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission on Wednesday (24/11), to deflect the asteroid Dimorphos from hitting Earth.