Giant asteroid the size of 1,000 capybaras to pass Earth Tuesday - NASA - eviltoast
Asteroid 349507 (2008 QY) is around 1.2 kilometers in diameter, or around 1,000 capybaras – large enough that an impact event (which won't happen now) could be a worldwide catastrophe.

While the asteroid is traveling too far to pose any risk to the Earth, a possible impact event with it could become a worldwide catastrophe.

  • jarfil@lemmy.world
    4·
    1 year ago

    Asteroids can be wildly non-spherical though, in shapes way different than capybara non-sphericalities, so it’s not only misapplied but likely also nonsensical… unless, it’s a giant capybara shaped asteroid.

    • unoriginalsin@lemmy.worldAfaraf
      1·
      1 year ago

      True, but we’re only given the one measurement and can only assume it to be true and accurate. Even if it is non-spherical, so long as the “diameter” given is a true average we can treat it as spherical for this purpose. And, the 1000 capybaras “measurement” is still of by many orders of magnitude.