8 Things That Would Happen If An Asteroid Hit Earth

6. The Approach

Despite all of the panic, to the naked eye the skies above Earth would stay innocently clear and blue for most of the asteroid's approach.

Asteroids aren't luminous, it would only be at about 24 hours before impact that the asteroid might appear in the night's sky at a similar brightness to Mars at its dimmest. It would be indistinguishable from the other stars in the sky.

About 2.5 hours before impact, you might notice that something is amiss, with an object of the same brightness of Venus visible in the sky, even during twilight. If you can see the asteroid during the day, you're probably about 5 minutes from impact.

As it grows bigger and bigger during the final approach, and even as it enters the atmosphere, it would be completely silent as it hurtles along at many times the speed of sound.