XPost: alt.astronomy, alt.fan.heinlein
As to their super claims.
Many have skimmed our atmosphere and gone off.
We do not know the sizes of all.
from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2024/06/20/the-asteroid-that-will-get-closer-to-earth-than-any-in-human-history/
The Asteroid That Will Get Closer To Earth Than Any In Human History
Jamie Carter
Senior Contributor
I'm an award-winning journalist writing about the night sky & eclipses
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Jun 20, 2024,06:23am EDT
Artist's impression of the asteroid (99942) Apophis.
Artist's impression of the asteroid (99942) Apophis. THE PLANETARY
SOCIETY; CC BY-NC 3.0
Friday the 13th may be considered an unlucky day, but at 5:45 EDT (11:45
CEST) on Friday, April 13, 2029, it will prove the exact opposite when
an asteroid of “dinosaur killer” size passes safely past Earth.
Everyone will be watching. Asteroid Apophis is, at about 1,230 feet (375 meters) across, larger than 90% of space rocks.
It will pass just 19,635 miles (31,600 kilometers) from Earth’s surface,
the closest approach of an asteroid of this size that humankind has ever experienced. It will pass between Earth’s geostationary satellites and
the Atlantic Ocean, just a tenth of the distance between Earth and the moon.
Apophis will be visible to the naked eye. As it crosses the Atlantic, a
few billion people in Europe, Africa and Asia can see it for a few hours
in the night sky if skies are clear.
Discovered exactly 20 years ago this week, here’s everything you need to
know about asteroid Apophis:
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‘Demon Of Chaos’
Asteroid 99942 Apophis was discovered on June 19, 2004, by astronomers
at Kitt Peak National Observatory, who revealed that this sttony, S-type asteroid orbits the sun every 324 days and comes close to Earth every
decade or so. It hit the headlines after a paper was published that
calculated that it could strike Earth in 2029, 2036 or 2068. It was,
therefore, named after Apophis, the Egyptian demon of chaos and destruction.
Even though there was only a 2.7% chance of a direct hit by Apophis, the devastation caused by it striking Earth (the crater it would leave would
be more enormous than the asteroid strike that killed the dinosaurs) led astronomers to try to understand its orbit in more detail. In 2021,
radar observations by NASA’s Goldstone Deep Space Communications
Complex, California and the Green Bank Observatory, West Virginia, in
March 2021 refined its orbit. It was announced that Apophis would not
strike Earth in 2029, 2036, or 2068.
Apophis_orbit_diverted_by_Earth_s_gravity
On Friday, 13 April 2029, asteroid Apophis will make a close approach of
Earth. Earth’s gravity will ... [+]ESA
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Future Threat?
However, an asteroid’s orbit can only be calculated so far into the
future. Although the following time it comes close to Earth, in 2044, it
will be at a greater distance, astronomers can only rule out an impact
for the next 100 years.
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The calculations are difficult because a close flyby—such as the one in 2029—will alter Apophis’ orbit so that it could strike Earth in a future orbit. However, astronomers have reduced the uncertainty in Apophis’
orbit from hundreds to just a few miles.
The close pass in 2029 of Apophis is a rare opportunity to visit, so
NASA already has a spacecraft in hot pursuit. This close pass is seen as
the perfect opportunity to learn more about planetary defense and how an asteroid reacts to passing so close to a body with such enormous
gravity. It’s thought that Apophis will be squeezed so much that
asteroid quakes and landslides could result.
New_radar_observations_of_Apophis_rule_out_future_impact
These images represent radar observations of asteroid 99942 Apophis on
March 8, 9, and 10, 2021, as ... [+]NASA/JPL-CALTECH AND NSF/AUI/GBO
Mission To Apophis
Watching closely will be NASA’s OSIRIS-Apophis Explorer (OSIRIS-APEX) spacecraft. It’s the identical spacecraft that 2020 visited Asteroid
Bennu. Then called OSIRIS-REx, NASA’s first asteroid sample-return
mission, it returned a package of samples to Utah in September 2023
before re-directing towards Apophis in a mission extension costing NASA
$200 million. OSIRIS-APEX will orbit Apophis for 18 months as it passes
Earth in 2029.
The European Space Agency is also considering a mission to Apophis, the
Rapid Apophis Mission for SEcurity and Safety (RAMSES) mission, to
launch in 2027.
For now, what scientists learn from sending spacecraft to study Apophis
in 2029 will be about how a relic of the early solar system reacts to
gravity. The findings could be crucial for future Earthlings in hundreds
of years when the massive asteroid poses a bigger threat.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
Pick up my books Stargazing in 2024, A Stargazing Program For Beginners
and When Is The Next Eclipse?
Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website or some of my
other work here.
Jamie Carter
Jamie Carter
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I'm an award-winning journalist writing about the night sky and
eclipses. The recipient of the 2023 Popular Media Award from the
American Astronomical... Read More
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Stuart M
2 hours ago
Apophis is actually quite a bit smaller than the asteroid that wiped out
the dinosaurs.
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