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As we find ourselves in the middle of a planet affected by a pandemic, precautionary measures such as wearing face masks, washing hands, and maintaining physical distance from other people have become the new norm. But it seems that we are not the only ones who are afraid of contracting the great bad coronavirus.
The 1998 OR2, an asteroid that was classified as a “Potentially Dangerous Object (PHO)”, flew through Earth on Wednesday, April 29. This asteroid, which scientists have been monitoring since 1998, does not pose a real threat to our planet. However, some experts believe that he may have realized the global threat that Earthlings face because even before he flew us by, scientists noticed that he bore a strange resemblance to a face mask.
“Small-scale topographic features, such as hills and ridges at one end of the asteroid OR2 1998 are scientifically fascinating,” said Anne Virkki, chief of planetary radar at the Arecibo observatory in Puerto Rico, who was following the asteroid’s path, on a Press release. . “But since we’re all thinking about COVID-19, these features make it seem like OR2 1998 remembers wearing a mask.”
As scientists joke about the asteroid trying to protect itself from capture of the Earth’s coronavirus, there is a proper explanation for why we can see the shape of a face mask on an unrelated object. The human tendency to look for patterns in random information is called pareidolia, a psychological phenomenon in which our brains trick us into connecting unrelated visual elements based on our memories. This is why we often see clouds shaped like objects or faces on rocks, and it happens because our brains process visual information by relating it to things we’ve already seen.
The asteroid generated quite a stir in recent weeks due to its large size, over 500 feet, and the fact that it would be less than 5 million miles from Earth’s orbit, which is fairly close in astronomical terms. It really wasn’t expected to hit Earth, though NASA made a statement saying it would have “global effects” if it did. Now that it has flown beyond our planet and into new horizons, the asteroid is giving some comic relief in the COVID-19 era. And while the asteroid was obviously not intended to look like what has now become an everyday object, let’s say it was a sign from the universe asking us to take the coronavirus seriously.
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