2020 NA (Clara)


 * For the character portrayed by Rebecca Rittenhouse, see Clara Young.

2020 NA, better known as Clara, after its discoverer Clara Young, is a carbonaceous chondrite asteroid that appears in the 2020 Toho disaster film, #JusticeForLove: End of the World, and serves as the primary plot device of the film.

Name
The provisional designation "2020 NA" consists of the year of discovery (2020) and an alphanumeric code indicating the half-month of discovery ("N" for July 1–15) and the order of discovery within that half-month ("A" refers to the first discovery within that half-month).

"Clara" is a feminine form of the Late Latin name Clarus which meant "clear, bright, famous", referencing the typical appearance of a bolide during its atmospheric entry.

The asteroid is popularly known by its alternative designation Clara, after the astronomer who discovered it, Clara Young.

Development
After the 2006 remake of Sinking of Japan recieved criticism for its ridiculous and unrealistic plot, Japanese studio Toho, known for the Godzilla franchise, approached Shusuke Kaneko on producing another science fiction film while the Godzilla franchise was placed on a ten-year hiatus. Kaneko is known for Gamera: the Guardian of the Universe, which attracted unprecedented critical acclaim for a kaiju film, and Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, the 25th installment of the Godzilla franchise. At the time, there was no consensus on what the film's premise should be, due to the renewed popularity of disaster and sci-fi films, including the upcoming releases of The Day the Earth Stood Still and 2012 in 2008 and 2009, respectively. On February 15, 2013, the Chelyabinsk meteor event took place over Chelyabinsk Oblast in Russia. Due to the incident, interest in asteroid impact events have drawn renewed attention, while the film's concept was finalized on visualizing the possible effects of a large asteroid impact, a rarity in the disaster genre, as most films that had previously been released usually end with Earth being saved from the catastrophe. It was decided from the outset that it would be clear from the beginning that the asteroid threat must be depicted as if it were a real event, and to show the world would actually end in the film, due to sci-fi films lacking respect from film critics. In order to achieve this, the filmmakers took inspiration and influences from real impact events that took place in Earth's history.

The Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event served as the main inspiration for the film, which is known for wiping out the non-avian dinosaurs 66 million years ago, following the impact of a 10 to 15 kilometer asteroid in the Gulf of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. Other impact events that served inspiration included the 1908 Tunguska event, and the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor event. Beyond impact events, pseudoscientific concepts were also used as influences for the film, from the Nemesis & Shiva hypothesis, to the Nibiru cataclysm. For the main impact scene in the climax, there is still some debate within the scientific community regarding the firestorm effects during the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction. The filmmakers discussed ways to combine scientific facts with fictional elements, the latter being for entertainment purposes, for the firestorm sequence. The final result is a compromise; after the asteroid's impact with Earth, it triggered a rapidly expanding wave of intense heat and thick hot smoke that moves faster than the speed of sound, vaporizing anything it touches in its path. It is described by visual effects supervisor Atsuki Sato as a "literal flaming tsunami". The effects of impact winter is accurately portrayed in the film's climax, depicting it as a dust cloud that covers the Earth's atmosphere, while ruined cities are buried in dust and ash, basically rendering Earth uninhabitable. The duration of the impact winter was exaggerated, however, as the scene takes place 30 years after the asteroid's impact, while in reality, the resulting impact winter from the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction possibly lasted for only a decade.

#JusticeForLove: End of the World
Originating from the outer asteroid belt, Clara was a fragment of a much larger parent body that collided with another impacting body several million years ago, that resulted in its orbit being disrupted. In the present day, it is discovered that Clara is on a collision course with Earth, and will impact in about three months. At the same time, small fragments from Clara wreak havoc around the world, destroying the cities of Tokyo, San Francisco, and Los Angeles in the process. The United States and Russia attempt to deflect Clara by launching a series of intercontinental ballistic missiles, approximately 5 days before its projected impact. Due to the asteroid's enormous size, the ICBMs failed to deflect Clara, that remains on a collision course with Earth. Following mankind's failure to deflect the asteroid, they prepare for the inevitable end. Clara finally impacts Earth on October 10, in central France, just east of Paris, triggering a global firestorm that renders the Earth's surface uninhabitable, causing an extinction event that wipes out most animal and plant life on the planet, including mankind.

Trivia

 * The asteroid's name both references Isabelle Abiera's character in the 2014 series Innamorata and the typical appearance of a bolide.
 * Clara was inspired by the Chicxulub impactor, that triggered the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago, that served as the main inspiration for #JusticeForLove: End of the World.
 * In the United States, #JusticeForLove: End of the World was released under its American title Asteroid Clara. This name was chosen as it refers to both the asteroid and Rittenhouse's character.
 * With a diameter of 10 kilometers, Clara is the largest potentially hazardous object. In reality, the largest known is (53319) 1999 JM8 approximately 7 kilometers in diameter.
 * A full subplot focusing on the asteroid's discovery, from the perspective of the astronomer who discovered it, intended to be portrayed by Rebecca Rittenhouse, was filmed but was cut in the film.