The trajectory of Apophis after its 2029 flyby will depend on how Earth's gravity changes the asteroid's orbit, said Davide Farnocchia, an astrophysicist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) who is studying the asteroid's trajectory. These estimates may seem low but were still extreme enough to give Apophis the highest values on two systems used by astronomers to calculate how dangerous an asteroid is to our planet, the Torino scale (created by Binzel) and the Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale.īy 2006, the probability of Apophis hitting Earth in 2029 was all but negated, yet future impacts, particularly in 2068, could not be dismissed as easily. These probabilities were refined with radar observations the following year. The excitement of Apophis' discovery quickly turned to concern when researchers calculated just how close the asteroid's orbit would bring it to Earth.įrom visual observations taken in 2004, researchers calculated there was around a 2.7% chance that the PHA would hit Earth in 2029. "That collision may have cast the fragment we call Apophis on a trajectory that resulted in its current orbit that comes very close to Earth." It has been stored in the asteroid belt for 4.6 billion years and may be a fragment of a larger asteroid that broke apart in a collision in the asteroid belt," Binzel said. "Apophis is a piece of an early solar system planetesimal - a planetary building block that never coalesced into one of our solar system's planets. Related: Meteor showers and shooting stars: Formation, facts and discovery Its shape is believed to be elongated and comprising of two lobes - almost like a rocky space peanut. The group found that the asteroid resembles the most common class of meteorites known as "ordinary chondrites," which are composed mostly of stone and silicates.Ĭlassified as an "S-Type" or stoney-type asteroid, according to NASA, Apophis also contains a mix of metals like nickel and iron. In the same year that Apophis received its new moniker, Binzel was part of a team that used reconnaissance telescopic observations to measure the color properties of Apophis and determine its composition. In 2005, the asteroid was renamed "Apophis" after the Greek name for an ancient Egyptian representation of evil, a serpent that dwells in darkness and frequently attempts to devour the sun-god Ra as he makes his nightly passage across the sky. Though the team was only able to observe the asteroid for two days as a result of technical issues and unfavorable weather conditions, further observations quickly revealed a wealth of details about the asteroid. The object was identified at the time as 2004 MN4. Tholen and Fabrizio Bernardi whilst working at the Kitt Peak National Observatory. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech) (opens in new tab) What we know about ApophisĪpophis was discovered on June 19, 2004, by Roy A. An animation shows Apophis' 2029 path compared to the swarm of satellites orbiting Earth.
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