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NASA has given Earth full clarity on the chances of an asteroid called Apophis hitting our planet at any time in the next century, after worrying space scientists for more than 15 years.
The 340-meter (1,100-foot) piece of space rock made headlines in 2004 after its discovery led to worrying predictions about its orbit. It has become a “poster for dangerous asteroids,” according to a NASA expert.
It was supposed to come frighteningly close in 2029 and again in 2036. NASA ruled out any possibility of a strike during these two close approaches some time ago, but a potential collision in 2068 was still looming.
But new telescope observations mean the collision has been ruled out and Apophis has been officially removed from the US space agency’s asteroid “risk list”.
Davide Farnocchia, of the NASA Center for Near Earth Object Studies, said in a statement: “An impact of 2068 is no longer in the realm of possibility, and our calculations show no risk of impact. for at least the next 100 years. ”
Scientists were able to refine Apophis’ orbit around the sun thanks to radar observations earlier this month, when the asteroid passed within 17 m km (10.6 m miles).
Apophis will arrive within 32,000 km (20,000 miles) of Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029, allowing astronomers to observe them well. This is about a tenth the distance from the Moon and closer than the communications satellites that circle the Earth 36,000 km away.
“When I started working with asteroids after college, Apophis was the go-to kid for dangerous asteroids,” Farnocchia said. “There is a certain sense of satisfaction to see it removed from the risk list.”
Although most asteroids are in the space belt between Mars and Jupiter, not all of them reside there. Apophis belongs to a group known as the Aten family. These do not belong to the asteroid belt and spend most of their time inside Earth’s orbit, placing them between our planet and the sun.
This makes them especially dangerous as they spend the majority of their orbit near the sun, whose crushing glare obscures them at telescopes on Earth – much like a WWII ace approaching the sun.
With Associated Press
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