“Asteroid-killer” Apophis is deprived of the title of a dangerous space body
“Asteroid-killer” Apophis, which was one of the most dangerous space objects for the Earth, is excluded from the list of celestial bodies that threaten the planet. Vyacheslav Avdeev, an employee of the Astro Space Center of the Physics Institute of the Academy of Sciences, told RIA Novosti.
“It turned out that they were afraid in vain. In 2029, Apophis will not collide with us, but it will pass quite close. It is not dangerous and was removed from the list of the 20 most dangerous asteroids, ”the scientist said.
Nevertheless, scientists continue to monitor Apophis. It is predicted that in 2029 it will pass from the Earth at a distance of 31 thousand kilometers, where geostationary satellites are located.
“The object is stretched out like a loaf of white bread. It is almost 400 meters long. It will be visible in the sky as a third magnitude star. This is slightly weaker than the stars of the Big Dipper's bucket, ”explained Avdeev.
On the night of April 13-14, 2029, it will be possible to observe a large asteroid.
Apophis was opened in 2004. Calculations showed that the probability of an asteroid colliding with the Earth is 2.7%. The celestial body was named after the ancient Egyptian god of evil and destruction. Then scientists ruled out this threat. In addition, Apophis could also pass close to Earth in 2068, but a collision is unlikely.
Scientists from the University of Arizona in the United States studied the composition of the asteroid Psyche 16, which was considered the most expensive in the solar system. It was estimated at 10 thousand quadrillion dollars due to the large amount of valuable iron. But according to new data, Psyche may be just a bunch of rubble. Despite this, the asteroid is still of interest to researchers.
