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NASA has revealed that the near-Earth object, thought to collide with our planet in 2068, is no longer a threat for at least the next 100 years.
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And the U.S. Space Agency announced this week that new observations from the 230-foot-long telescope rule out any chance that the asteroid Apophis will hit Earth in 2068, which is the same 340-meter-high space rock that surpassed the Earth earlier. This month it was assumed to be woefully close in 2029 and again in 2036 to Earth.
Scientists ruled out for a time any possibility of collision during these two close approaches. But they speculated a possible collision in 2068.
The recent passage of “Apophis” near Earth allowed the United States Space Agency to estimate the orbit of the space rock around the sun, and revealed that “the impact of 2068 is no longer in the world of possibilities “.
Scientists first discovered “Apophis” on June 19, 2004, at the Kit Peck National Observatory in Arizona, and since then scientists have tracked every movement of it as it orbits the sun, which completes it in less than a year on Earth.
Apophis, named after the ancient Egyptian god of chaos, is over 1,000 feet wide and is said to have an effect equivalent to 880 million tons of tri-nitrotoluene (TNT) detonating in one go.
When Apophis passed Earth around March 5, scientists gathered data to learn more about the space rock’s path.
David Varnoquia of the NASA Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), which is managed by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said in a statement Friday March 26: “The impact of 2068 is no longer in the range of possibilities. , and our calculations show none.
Asteroid 99942 Apophis is no longer considered a threat. On March 5, in a safe and distant flyby, astronomers had the chance to make radar observations to define its orbit around the Sun and confidently ruled out any risk of impact for at least a century. https://t.co/gqvkZfylhOpic.twitter.com/AIgZln1KiW
– NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) March 26, 2021
A team of NASA scientists used the powerful radio antenna at the Deep Space Network’s Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex near Barstow, Calif., To accurately track Apophis’ movement.
Scientists were able to track Apophis’ orbit around the sun thanks to radar observations earlier this month, when the asteroid passed within 17 million kilometers.
Apophis will reach a distance of 32,000 km on April 13, 2029, which will allow astronomers to observe the rock in space.
Source: Fox News
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