Published on Jan 12, 2013
But scientists say there is still a very slim chance it will collide with Earth in 2036, causing an explosion the size of more than 500 megatons of TNT blowing up.
The 300m-wide space rock, named after an Egyptian god of darkness and destruction, was first discovered in 2004 and has made a series of close approaches to Earth.
On Wednesday, it came within 15 million kilometres of our planet.
In 2029, it is expected to pass closely enough to put it inside the orbit of Earth's communication satellites.
Current models predict it could smash into Earth in 2036 if it goes through a small "slingshot" region in space when it crosses our orbit.
But NASA has said this is very unlikely.
"With the new data provided by the Magdalena Ridge (New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology) and the Pan-STARRS (University of Hawaii) optical observatories, along with very recent data provided by the Goldstone Solar System Radar, we have effectively ruled out the possibility of an Earth impact by Apophis in 2036," manager of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office Don Yeomans said.
"The impact odds as they stand now are less than one in a million, which makes us comfortable saying we can effectively rule out an Earth impact in 2036.
"Our interest in asteroid Apophis will essentially be for its scientific interest for the foreseeable future."
Scientists are now trying to measure the asteroid's weight, density, colour and shape to develop a more accurate model of its orbit.
No comments:
Post a Comment