As huge asteroid nears earth, rumours claim April 2020 will be Armageddon; here's NASA's reply

Even as the coronavirus pandemic has gripped people resulting in the death of more than 11,000 people worldwide, there are people who are talking about the world coming to an end on April 29.

These rumours are very active on social media platforms and they are predicting that on April 29 the planet earth will be hit by a giant asteroid which will cause a massive earthquake and destroy the planet. Another theory is that the asteroid will partially hit earth and some countries will be effected.

American space agency NASA has confirmed that a giant asteroid is hurtling towards the planet but according to them it will fly past earth. NASA has classified the asteroid as "potentially hazardous" not because it puts earth in danger, but because it fulfills certain criteria in the agency's classification scheme. 

As per NASA, if an asteroid orbit ever intersects earth's orbit at a distance less than 4.6 million miles (7.5 million km), or 0.05 astronomical units, the average distance between earth and the sun then it qualifies to be called as "potentially hazardous". They have predicted that the asteroid will come close to planet earth as close as 40 lakh kilometers.  

The asteroid is officially called 52768 (1998 OR2) and is as big as the Himalayas.