Apophis the space rock

In 2004 a 300 meter wide space rock flew past our planet, Earth. It was discovered by Roy A. Tucker, David J. Tholen and Fabrizio Bernandi, astronomers at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tucson, Arizona, USA. They were able to observe the space rock for two days. On June 24, 2005 the space rock was given the number 99942.  On July 19, 2005 its discoverers gave it the name "Apophis".




Apophis was the name of an ancient Egyptian god who embodied chaos and evil. He appears in art as a giant serpent. He is the enemy of the Egyptian Sun god Ra. 

Reports are that in December (2004) the space rock "caused a brief period of concern" because initial observations indicated a probabillity of up to 2.7% that it would hit Earth on April 13, 2029."

Has Apophis passed by our Earth since 2004? Yes, it has. Reports are that it passed within 14.45 million km (8.98 million miles) of Earth in 2013. The closest approach of Apophis to Earth at that time was on January 9, 2013.

Scientists believe that the orbit Apophis is taking will bring it much closer to Earth in 2029.
A recent article on the NASA website titled  "Apophis In Depth" says "Asteroid 99942 Apophis is a near-Earth asteroid  more than 1,000ft. (over 300 meters) in size that will harmlessly pass close to Earth on April 13, 2029."

The article continued:"The asteroid will come between Earth and our Moon. It is rare for an asteroid of this size to pass so close to Earth, although smaller asteroids in size have been observed passing by at similar distances. It is also within the distance that some  spacecraft orbit Earth."
                                                               
                                                             ===000===


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