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99942 Apophis (provisional designation 2004 MN 4) is a near-Earth asteroid and a potentially hazardous object, 450 metres (1,480 ft) by 170 metres (560 ft) in size, [3] that caused a brief period of concern in December 2004 when initial observations indicated a probability of 2.7% that it would hit Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029.
The close approach of the asteroid Apophis to the Earth and Moon on Friday, April 13, 2029. Ramses, or Rapid Apophis Mission for Space Safety, is a proposed European Space Agency (ESA) mission to a near-Earth asteroid 99942 Apophis. If approved, it is expected to be launched in April 2028 and to arrive at Apophis in February 2029 before its ...
On December 24, 2004, five days after discovery, 370 m (1,210 ft) asteroid 99942 Apophis was assigned a 4 on the Torino scale, the highest rating given to date, as the information available at the time translated to a 1.6% chance of Earth impact in April 2029. [93]
If an asteroid at the bottom of this size range, one 7 metres (23 ft) across (with an absolute magnitude ggrater than 28.5), has average asteroid density and impacts the Earth at average meteor speed, its impact energy is about 15 kilotons TNT equivalent, or roughly equivalent to the blast energy of the Hiroshima bomb. [11]
In the same year, NASA released a study where the asteroid Apophis (with a diameter of around 300 meters or 1,000 feet) was assumed to have a much lower rubble pile density (1,500 kg/m 3 or 100 lb/cu ft) and therefore lower mass than it is now known to have, and in the study, it is assumed to be on an impact trajectory with Earth for the year ...
Roy A. Tucker (1951 – 2021) was an American astronomer best known for the co-discovery of near-Earth asteroid 99942 Apophis (formerly known as 2004 MN 4) along with David J. Tholen and Fabrizio Bernardi of the University of Hawaii. [2]
This animation shows the distance between the Apophis asteroid and Earth at the time of the asteroid's closest approach. The blue dots are the many man-made satellites that orbit our planet, and the pink represents the International Space Station.
The chance of an unknown asteroid hitting Apophis off its current course at all was less than one-in-a-million. And the odds that such an impact would send it hurtling toward Earth in 2029 was ...