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A large asteroid, which was supposed to pass extremely close to Earth, could now hit the blue planet in 2068 due to a phenomenon called the Yarkovsky effect. This effect ultimately accelerated the flow of the asteroid and also changed its trajectory.
Astronomers, studying the asteroid closely, believe the chances of an impact on Earth are very low, but it’s still a possibility. They “will know long before 2068 if there is a chance of impact.”
Discovered in 2004, the asteroid Apophis is an asteroid 1,120 feet wide (340 meters wide). It’s about the size of three and a half football pitches, said the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
According to a report in Space.com. the sun can heat an asteroid non-uniformly, causing the space rock to radiate thermal energy asymmetrically. This can cause a push or a small push in a certain direction, sometimes altering the path of the asteroid. This effect is called Yarkovsky acceleration.
“All asteroids must reradiate as heat the energy they absorb from sunlight in order to maintain thermal equilibrium, a process that slightly alters the asteroid’s orbit,” a press release said. from the University of Hawaii.
Before the discovery of the Yarkovsky effect, the possibility of collision was impossible. “The detection of this effect acting on Apophis means that the 2068 impact scenario is still a possibility,” it read.
According to new calculations by astronomers at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, asteroid Apophis, which will also be extremely close to Earth on April 13, 2029, is deviating from its actual orbit and could crash into Earth in 2028. .
Lead author David Tholen said in an October 26 press release: “We have known for some time that impact with Earth is not possible as we approach 2029.”
“The new observations we got with the Subaru Telescope earlier this year were good enough to reveal Apophis’ Yarkovsky acceleration, and they show that the asteroid is moving away from a purely gravitational orbit of about 170 meters per year, which is enough to keep the 2068 impact scenario in play, ”he said.
“Fundamentally, the heat emitted by an asteroid gives it a very small push… the warmer hemisphere [of the asteroid] would grow a little harder than the colder hemisphere, and that causes the asteroid to drift from what a purely gravitational orbit would predict, ”David Tholen said at a press conference.
He said some astronomers have found the asteroid Apophis quite embarrassing with “many impact scenarios” predicted and then largely ruled out since its discovery in 2004.
FLYBY D’APOPHIS ON FRIDAY 13TH
The asteroid Apophis, named after the Greek god of Chaos, is expected to harmlessly pass Earth on April 13, 2029, which will fall on Friday, the statement said.
During its 2029 flyby, Apophis will first become visible to the naked eye in the night sky above the southern hemisphere and will look like a speck of light moving east to west over the southern hemisphere. ‘Australia. It will get brighter and faster as it zooms in on Earth.
According to NASA, during its flyby in 2029, “the asteroid Apophis will first be visible to the naked eye in the night sky above the southern hemisphere”. It will look like “a speck of light moving east to west over Australia”.
Apophis will then cross over the Indian Ocean, and continuing west, it will cross the equator over Africa, NASA said.
“Apophis’ close approach in 2029 will be an incredible opportunity for science,” said a scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
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