An unidentified flying object (UFO) named WT1190F or WTF is heading straight for Earth, but researchers don’t currently have any idea what it is. They suspect that the object may be a piece of old man made space junk which appears to be around 2m long and seems to be hollow or bent. It is expected to hit the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka today.

WTF1190F’s trajectory was first calculated in 2013. The unknown object was rediscovered by astronomers at the Catalina Sky Survey, based at the University of Arizona earlier this month.

Here is all you should definitely know about it:

• The object is set to crash in the Indian Ocean, around 65 kilometres off the south of Sri Lanka
• The agency said that WT1190F ‘poses very little risk to anyone’
• The contact of this object with the surface of the Earth will be a rare opportunity to observe its impact
• Its collision will also help scientists improve the understanding of how space objects, man-made or natural, interacts with Earth’s atmosphere
• Astronomers at the European Space Agency (ESA) are now monitoring the space junk’s journey
• Researchers also say that the object’s movement suggests that it is hollow inside.

Watch the video here:

It’s not known exactly how the object was propelled onto a collision-course with Earth. However, there is a chance that it might not land at all. It might burn up upon entry into the atmosphere due to high friction.

13th November is going to be a lucky one for some scientists hoping to study the effects of our atmosphere on space junk.