Scientists have reconsidered the likelihood that Apophis will collide with Earth in 2029.
Twenty years ago, when the asteroid Apophis was discovered, many were shocked. Named after the Egyptian god of chaos, this celestial monster with a diameter of 340 meters had a 2.7% chance of colliding with Earth in 2029.
But fortunately, further observations have reduced this chance to 1 in 100,000. Apophis is expected to pass by our planet on April 13, 2029 at a distance of 37,399 kilometers.
However, one troubling possibility remained: what if Apophis collided with another space rock and changed course toward Earth?
To address these concerns, astronomers Paul Wiegert and Benjamin Hiatt conducted a thorough investigation. They analyzed the trajectories of 1.3 million known asteroids and found that there was no chance that Apophis could have been redirected to Earth.
“Fortunately, such collisions are not expected,” said lead author Paul Wiegert, an astronomer at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, in a rack.
“Even now that we know it’s on track to miss us by a safe margin, astronomers remain vigilant. It’s the asteroid we keep looking at.”
Apophis no longer poses a threat to Earth, and we can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that we are not at risk of an asteroid impact in 2029.
