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There are many asteroids floating around in space that NASA and other organizations track. One of these asteroids is about the size of the Eiffel Tower and is called Apophis. Scientists recently said they couldn’t rule out that Apophis could impact Earth in 2068.
Scientists at the University of Hawaii’s Institute of Astronomy have announced that they have discovered a phenomenon called Yarkovsky’s acceleration on the asteroid. This type of acceleration comes from an extremely small force on an object caused by non-uniform thermal radiation. It’s a complicated way of saying that sunlight changes the path of the asteroid over time.
In the past, scientists did not believe that an impact scenario with Earth was likely. However, the new observations indicate that the asteroid is moving away from a purely gravitational orbit of about 170 meters per year. This amount of drift is enough to keep the potential for impact with Earth as a possibility.
Scientists have been observing Apophis since 2004, and in 2013 scientists announced that the asteroid would not impact Earth in 2036. Fears previously thought there was a chance of impact in 2029, but that was excluded. Interestingly, Apophis will approach the earth on Friday, April 13, 2029, at a distance that would make it visible to the naked eye.
When that happens, astronomers will be watching the asteroid’s future trajectory and focus on the potential for an impact in 2068. Scientists have long been working on ways to deal with any potentially dangerous asteroid. NASA’s DART mission will crush a spacecraft in the mood of an asteroid to push it to see if that could be used to avoid any potential impact in the future. The researchers point out that there is no reason to worry about a potential impact in 2068 at this time. They say they will know long before then if an impact will occur.
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