This Wednesday an object 33 to 50 feet wide is going to whizz past earth, 80,000 miles away. Astronomers say that it is not heading in our direction but can be seen by a small telescope on Wednesday at 7:47 AM EST.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100112/ap_on_sc/us_sci_space_miss
The time is 4:36 Am Greenwich Mean Time on Friday the 13th of April 2029. A 25 million ton space rock called 99942 could possibly hit Earth which, if happens, could pack the explosive energy of 65,000 Hiroshima bombs. If an impact were to occure, this 820 foot asteroid popularly named Apophis could create an 800 foot tsunami which could you know, cause a lot of pain and destruction to the world.
Asteroid Apophis was named after the encient Egyptian God of destruction and darkness and on that Friday the 13th, a fews hours after into the night people all across Europe, Western Asia and Africa will look into the heavens and see what looks to be a bright star slowly making its way towards the west through the cancer constellation. Asteroid Apophis will be the first documented asteroid in the history of humanity to be clearly seen by the naked eye.
The question to be asked is, will Asteroid Apophis be more then a bright star in the sky?
According to scientists, if asteroid apophis passes through a “gravitational keyhole” of a distance of 18,893 miles, there is a possibility that the Earth’s gravitation could pull on the asteroid just enough where when it comes by on April 13th, 2036, it could actually impact the earth.
If in 2029, asteroid apophis does infact go through this gravitational keyhole, then we would have seven years to figure out a way to deflect the asteroid 5,000 miles, enough to just miss planet earth.
Well, have a good rest of the day!
I got to tell you, Asteroid Apophis is really getting laughed at by the media. There are asteroids hitting the earth every month and it gets little attention. It is not until the Russian scientists that say there is a good chance of impact in 2036 that the news spends a half day talking about it and then silence.
Asteroid Apophis could be the biggest news story since, well, ever. Just image that if it did come around in 2029 and was deemed a threat for 2036, we would only have a few short years to prepare to intercept it so it makes good sense that the Russians are trying to get a team together to actually prevent this global killer from even getting near us.
In outer space. That is the short answer. The long answer still has elements of outer space but is much more complex. But the good news is that it is heading in our direction, or is that the bad news? It could miss us, right?
What is an Asteroid?
An asteroid is a celestial body, small or large, which orbits the sun with the other objects that are in our solar system, things like planets. Most asteroids are smaller then planets and very few actually get to be large. Every year, literally thousands of new asteroids are discovered.
In December of 2004, Asteroid 99942, now called Apophis was discovered and many observations indicated that there was a 2.7 percent chance that it could strike Earth in 2029. There were many more observations that said that the possibility of the asteroid hitting the earth were smaller then they thought.
However, when Asteroid Apophis swings by earth in 2029, it could go into what is known as the gravitational keyhole which is a specific part of space no more than 600 meters in diameter and if it does it could present a threat of impact on April 13th, 2036.
The distinct possibility that Asteroid Apophis could impact the earth in 2036 kept it on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale that they use to determine threat levels of possible near earth asteroids and Apophis remained on Level 4 which broke the record for any asteroid being on the list. It was then lowered to Level 1.
How is it that the Russians are taking the lead to preventing Asteroid Apophis? Could it be that the Russians know more than the NASA scientists that say it won’t impact the Earth? There are also rumors that there could be a possible impact by 2032. We will have more to say about that. The most important year will be in 2013 when Asteroid Apophis will be nearby and we can get a better look at it and then calculate exactly where it could go in terms of the Earth being in it’s future path.
Soon to come an asteroid that could kill us all, or perhaps only some of us. But what will it matter, all hell will have broken lose on earth anyway. The world is right in the path of this 1,500 foot Asteroid called Apophis.
On October 2005 it had been predicted that Asteroid Apophis will pass right below the altitude of geosynchronous satellites, which are at 35,786 kilometres (22,236 mi). This kind of near approach only happens every 1,300 years.
Apophis’ brightness will peak at magnitude 3.3, with a maximum angular speed of 42° per hour. The maximum apparent angular diameter will be ~2 arcseconds, so that it will be barely resolved by telescopes not equipped with adaptive optics.
Russia is considering sending a spacecraft to deflect a large asteroid and prevent a possible collision with Earth, according to a radio interview by the head of the country’s space agency. Anatoly Perminov said the space agency will hold a meeting soon to assess a mission to Apophis, and said NASA, ESA, the Chinese space agency and others would be invited to join the project. Apophis is a 270-meter (885-foot) asteroid that was spotted in 2004. It is projected to come within 29,450 kilometers (18,300 miles) of Earth in 2029, and currently has an estimated 1-in-250,000 chance of hitting Earth in 2036. Read the rest of this entry »