The Torino Scale uses a scale from 0 to 10. Where 0 indicates an object has a negligibly small chance of collision with the Earth or is too small to penetrate the Earth's atmosphere intact. A 10 indicates that a collision is certain, and the impacting object is so large that it is capable of precipitating a global disaster. There are no fractional values or decimal values used.
An object is assigned a 0 to 10 value based on its collision probability and its kinetic energy (expressed in megatons).
The Torino Scale also uses a color code from white to yellow to orange to red. Each color code has an overall meaning:
The Torino Scale was created by Professor Richard P. Binzel and named after a conference in Torino, Italy (Turin).
See also Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale
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