A huge asteroid with is set to fly past Earth on Friday the 13th in 2029 – at a distance of less than 20,000 miles.
The massive 1,000-metre-wide cosmic projectile is 28 times bigger than the famous Tunguska asteroid which exploded over Siberia in 1908 causing a massive five-mile-wide area of destruction.
This new space rock, named Apophis after the Greek name for the ancient Egyptian demon Apep, is large enough for NASA scientists to consider it worthy of monitoring.
In a statement NASA said: « Apophis is about 1,100 feet (340 metres) in width. It’s expected to safely pass close to Earth, within 19,794 miles (31,860 kilometres) from our planet’s surface – on April 13, 2029.
« This will be the closest approach to Earth by an asteroid of this size that scientists have known about in advance. »
But according to the Daily Star, astudy by Canadian astronomer Dr Paul Wiegert has found the path of the asteroid could change dramatically if a “small object” hits Apophis.
In the paper On the sensitivity of Apophis’ 2029 Earth approach to small asteroid impacts, Dr Wiegert wrote: « Apophis’ current trajectory takes it safely past our planet at a distance of several Earth radii on 2029 April 13.
« Here the possibility is considered that Apophis could collide with a small asteroid, like the ones that frequently and unpredictably strike Earth, and the resulting perturbation of its trajectory. »
Dr Wiegert added: « The likelihood of any asteroid being deflected in a significant way by a small asteroid impact is extremely low.
« It is only the unusual nature of Apophis that leads us to consider it in detail here, so that we can understand its future motion as well as possible. »
According to NASA, every day, Earth is bombarded with more than 100 tonnes of dust and sand-sized particles.
The space agency said: « About once a year, an automobile-sized asteroid hits Earth’s atmosphere, creates an impressive fireball, and burns up before reaching the surface.
« Every 2,000 years or so, a meteoroid the size of a football field hits Earth and causes significant damage to the area.
« Only once every few million years, an object large enough to threaten Earth’s civilization comes along. Impact craters on Earth, the moon and other planetary bodies are evidence of these occurrences.
« Space rocks smaller than about 25 metres (about 82 feet) will most likely burn up as they enter the Earth’s atmosphere and cause little or no damage. If a rocky meteoroid larger than 25 metre but smaller than one kilometre ( a little more than 1/2 mile) were to hit Earth, it would likely cause local damage to the impact area.
« We believe anything larger than one to two kilometres (one kilometre is a little more than one-half mile) could have worldwide effects. »
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