A large asteroid about the size of the Eiffel Tower is expected to come unusually close to Earth in 2029, but there is no risk of impact, scientists said.
The asteroid, named Apophis, will pass around 20,000 miles from Earth’s surface on April 13, 2029—closer than many satellites in orbit, according to NASA. Apophis is classified as “potentially hazardous” and is made of leftover “raw material” that was never part of a planet or moon.
“When it was discovered in 2004, it appeared Apophis might impact Earth in either 2029, 2036, or 2068,” NASA said. “Since then, astronomers have closely watched Apophis using optical telescopes and ground-based radar, allowing its orbit to become better understood. Based on this data, NASA is now confident that there is no risk of Apophis impacting Earth for at least 100 years.”
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Apophis was discovered on June 19, 2004, by astronomers Roy Tucker, David Tholen, and Fabrizio Bernardi at Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona.
They could only see the asteroid for two days because of technical and weather problems. In December 2004, another team of astronomers in Australia was able to observe the asteroid, NASA said.
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Observatories around the world and in space will observe Apophis’ historic close approach to better understand its physical properties. In anticipation of the event, NASA has redirected a spacecraft to rendezvous with Apophis shortly after its 2029 Earth close-approach. After successfully completing its mission to gather a sample of asteroid Bennu and bringing it to Earth in September 2023, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx was sent to study Apophis.
The spacecraft was renamed OSIRIS-APophis EXplorer (OSIRIS-APEX), and it’s on its way to meet up with its new target. The European Space Agency (ESA) is also sending a spacecraft to study the asteroid.
Apophis is expected to be visible to observers in the Eastern Hemisphere, weather permitting, without a telescope or binoculars.
“The most important thing happening in this event is that Apophis will be pulled, twisted, stretched, and squeezed by the gravity of Earth as it goes by, in a way that happens only during a very close encounter,” NASA said. “The overall pull will change Apophis’s orbit around the Sun, making the orbit slightly larger and giving it a longer orbital period.”
