Asteroid SHOCK: How close has an asteroid come to HITTING Earth? How large was it?
Dr Thomas Gernon, Associate Professor in Earth Science at Southampton University, said: “In the asteroid belt, fitting somewhere between Mars and Jupiter, space rocks sometimes collide.
“The break up of one or more asteroids will potentially generate lots of fragments, which over time can get nudged towards the Earth.
“Over time these rocks get bombarded by sunlight and there is a process which re-emits this energy, and gives these fragments a tiny nudge, which can then send them on a collisional path towards Earth.”
“It is a bit like a rising tide; you have a lot of material coming out of the asteroid belt at one point.”
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