Return of Apophis: Will it Crash on Earth
Scientists prepare for their last good look at asteroid Apophis before its 2029 flyby.
Astronomers first spotted the space rock, now known as Apophis, in 2004.
It passed by in the year 2021, and once again will be uncomfortably close to Earth on April 13, 2029.
Apophis will skim so close to the Earth that it will pass through the realm of high-altitude satellites.
Researchers say it will not hit the Earth.
The observations gathered in 2021 help them calculate its next approach when it will pass close to Earth.
But scientists are positive that it will not hit Earth.
The basis for their saying is the study that they conducted when Apophis passed by the Earth.
Scientists use it as a powerful tool for studying asteroids from Earth and processing the data.
They study pointing a powerful radar beam at an object while using a sensitive radio telescope to catch the echo bounced back.
Scientists' priority while preparing for the 2029 Apophis flyby is to sharpen their view of the rock's shape and its intricate rotations.
Apophis is in a very complicated spin state; it is sort of spinning and tumbling at the same time.
Although scientists are positive that Apophis won't hit Earth in 2029,
They can't yet rule out possible collisions in the future because there are plenty of other large space rocks orbiting the sun in Earth's neighbourhood.
Experts in planetary defence track these objects and prepare techniques that could divert any that do pose a threat.
And the data gathered about Apophis could inform what scientists know about these other asteroids.
During its 2029 flyby, Apophis will be visible to the naked eye in the sky at night over the southern hemisphere .And it will look like a speck of light moving eastward to westward over Australia.
It will be mid-morning on the U.S. East Coast when Apophis is in Australian sky.
Apophis will cross over the Indian Ocean, continuing west, crossing the equator over Africa.
By 6 pm EDT it will have its closest approach to Earth, on April 13, 2029.Apophis will be over the Atlantic Ocean.
It will move faster and it will cross the Atlantic in just an hour. As the researcher says, by 7 p.m. EDT, the asteroid will have crossed over the United States.
As it passes by Earth, it will get brighter and faster.
Apophis as it orbits the Sun, and scientists are confident that they know its future trajectory.
Current calculations show that Apophis still has a very small chance of impacting the Earth—less than 1 in 100,000 many decades from now.
Scientists think there's a chance Earth's gravity will be strong enough to scatter boulders on the surface of Apophis.
