TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Researchers have predicted a potential impact asteroid 99942 Apophis can kill 10 million people on Earth. However, the United States aviation and space agency (NASA) announced that Earth is safe from the 1,100-foot (335.28 meter) asteroid for the next 100 years.
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Apophis asteroid is heading for Earth in 48 years, potential explosion of 880 million tons of TNT
Quoted by NPR, March 27, 2021, Apophis first discovered in 2004. “The asteroid is on the list of the most dangerous asteroids that can impact Earth,” said NASA after the discovery.
For astronomer originally predicted that Apophis would be closer in 2029, and even closer in 2036. Both predictions were ruled out, but the latest predictions for 2068 are still there even though the risk of impact is small.
“A collision in 2068 is no longer possible, and our calculations show no risk of impact for at least the next 100 years,” said Davide Farnocchia of NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies.
The latest prediction is the result of new radar observations that occurred as Apophis approached earlier this month, and is 10.6 million miles away from Earth.
Astronomers also use radar observations to make a more precise analysis of the orbits of asteroids around the Sun. “We can get very precise information about the distance with an accuracy of about 150 meters,” said scientist Marina Brozovic of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
Brozovic leads radar operations which rule out the potential risk of collision by 2068. Scientists hope to use the data gathered this time to find out more about the asteroid’s shape, as well as the speed at which it rotates and its axis rotates.
Although the risk of a collision in 2029 was ruled out for a long time, Apophis will arrive within 20,000 miles of Earth’s surface that year, April 13 to be precise. Observers in the Eastern Hemisphere will have the opportunity to see them without binoculars.
And astronomers have the opportunity to learn more about asteroids, without worrying that they still pose a risk to the planet.
Farnocchia added that when he started working on the asteroid field after college, Apophis was a dangerous asteroid image. “There is a certain sense of satisfaction to see him removed from the risk list, and we are looking forward to the science we may discover as 2029 approaches,” said two.
NPR | OUR
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