Thanksgiving 2020 To Include Fly-By Of 1,600 Foot Asteroid

A large asteroid will be the center of attention for scientists all over the world as many of us enjoy the final day of Thanksgiving gatherings the weekend of November 28, 2020.

We can now officially add meteor scare to the long list of topics we can discuss with family the weekend proceeding the Thanksgiving holiday on November 26. Along with conversations around the dinner table likely to include who won the United States presidential election, Super Bowl predictions, who has the Coronavirus and plans for Christmas and New Years, chatter about the 1,640 foot asteroid expected to be visible for those who own a telescope is also a topical direction one can take.

The asteroid 2000 WO107 will pass at a distance of approximately 2.6 million miles from our planet on Sunday, November 29. The huge space rock is 1/3 of a mile in size, and is not considered an immediate threat, according to earthsky.org. It will however be taking further future fly-bys past our planet at even closer distances.

The last asteroid to grab world headlines was 2020 SW, a 30-foot rock, which passed substantially closer on September 24 than the one headed our way in late-November. For many Americans, November 29 will be a heavy travel day, as Thanksgiving falls on the Thursday before, and most will be enjoying the final day of a holiday, four-day weekend.

This year has been an utter disaster, so it's only fitting that an asteroid alarm would work its way into the final month of 2020. Hopefully, for those of us in Twin Falls, talk of a repeat of 2017's "snow-mageddon" won't actually pan out, thus contributing to a frustrating start for 2021.