The Truth of Asteroid Apophis
People who are interested in the activities happening in space must be aware of the Asteroid Apophis and the recent stories of it possibly hitting the Earth. The word Apophis refers to the great serpent which is an enemy of Sun God Ra and it is associated with earthquakes, thunder, darkness, storms, and death, and is sometimes linked to the God Set, also associated with chaos, disorder, storms, and darkness. Asteroid Apophis has been named after this evil serpent.
Asteroid Apophis was discovered in the year 2004 and it is officially known as 99942 Apophis. It is more than 1000 feet in size. It is expected to pass close to the Earth in the years 2029,2036 and 2068 but before that it will pass on 5th of March,2021. If you have read blogs or articles telling you that there are high chances of this asteroid hitting the Earth, please ignore them.
Although initial calculations did predict that there are around 1 in 37 chances of the Asteroid Apophis hitting the Earth in the year 2029 but later on, with better observations and more accurate predictions, it was discovered that it is untrue and the asteroid will clearly miss the earth by 47,000 kms. Since it is a near Earth object and revolves around the Sun, it’s orbit is closely being monitored by the scientists. It is true that the asteroid is accelerating rapidly but it is because of a phenomenon called Yarkovsky effect. Sunlight heated the rotating, irregular asteroid, which caused the unexpected accelerations but it’s possibility of hitting the earth has been completely ruled out by the scientists.
So the question is why this Asteroid is important for us? There are many reasons but this year 2021 flyby will be Apophis closest approach until the great encounter in 2029. According to Nasa Friday, April 13, 2029, will be more of a showtime for the general public like us and the most exciting part is that Apophis will come so close that it will be visible to the unaided eye, something that almost never happens with asteroids!
Whereas, it is a good opportunity for scientists to study it closely. It will be monitored through radar telescope and optical telescope. In April 2029, during its flyby, Apophis will be visible to the naked eye for the first time in the night sky over the southern hemisphere and will look like a speck of light moving from east to west over Australia. It has been predicted that at its closest approach towards Earth, it will be over the Atlantic Ocean and will cross it only within an hour. As it will pass by Earth, it will keep getting brighter and faster.
