A giant asteroid named after a god of death will whistle on Earth 10 years from now

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There is no need to panic, however. Apophis will miss Earth with a healthy margin of 19,000 miles. Nevertheless, its size and distance relatively close to Earth means that its overflight will be a special moment for astronomers and other scientists.

"The close approach of Apophis in 2029 will be an incredible opportunity for science," said Marina Brozović, a radar scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, in a statement from NASA. . According to NASA, it is relatively rare for an object of this size to pass so close to the Earth.

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"We will observe the asteroid with optical and radar telescopes," Brozović said. "With radar observations, we might be able to see surface details of just a few meters."

In fact, Apophis can even be visible to the naked eye as a bright spot.

"When the asteroid passes over the Atlantic Ocean, its path passes briefly from red to gray – it's the moment of the closest approach," says a predictive model from NASA. "After the closest approach, the asteroid will move in the daytime sky and will no longer be visible."

Here is what his path will look like:

It is very comforting to note that the scientific community is really excited by the arrival of a huge rock called "god of death" for ordinary civilians who even fear being decimated by the detritus of space. It is the subject of much speculation and discussion at the global defense conference this week in College Park, Maryland, where various international agencies met to discuss the discovery and study (and possible defense) of objects close to the Earth.
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It would seem that Apophis may be a generous god and provide scientists with a lot of information on what to do if a more dangerous object near the Earth came our way.

"Apophis is a representative of about 2,000 potentially dangerous asteroids currently known," said Paul Chodas, director of the Center for Studies of Near Earth Objects, in the statement. "By observing Apophis during its 2029 flight, we will gain important scientific knowledge that could one day be used for planetary defense."

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