Asteroid 340m will come close to Earth in 2029

The asteroid Apophis will pass by Earth in April 2029, which could release 30 times more energy than the Tsar Bomba atomic bomb if it were to collide.

Apophis will fly 39,000 kilometers above the Earth's surface, roughly the same altitude at which television satellites operate, according to Russia's Emergencies Ministry. The above number is quite close to the previous calculation of the US Space Agency (NASA). In March 2021, NASA ruled out Apophis hitting Earth in 2068 and estimated the object would pass less than 32,000km from our planet on April 13, 2029.

Simulate Apophis flying towards Earth.

With a diameter of about 340km, Apophis, named after the ancient Egyptian god of chaos, is one of the most dangerous asteroids that could collide with Earth. Astronomers at a US observatory discovered Apophis in 2004. The team at the University of Hong Kong said the meteorite was unlikely to hit a satellite or a Chinese space station or another station in China. low Earth orbit in 2029.

"The risk of collision with any satellite is very small in terms of size and speed relative to the volume of space," said Quentin Parker, head of the Space Research Laboratory at the University of Hong Kong. "The International Space Station (ISS) and China's Tiangong station both operate at a much lower orbit, less than 500km."

According to Parker, Apophis will fly 10 times closer to the Moon. He estimates there are about 500 active geostationary satellites beyond that distance. Apophis will be the closest asteroid 300-400m in size to Earth in history.

Lee Man-hoi, a planetary dynamicist and dean of the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Hong Kong, estimates that on average every 100,000 years, such a large meteorite could hit the Earth. NASA removed Apophis from the risk list after announcing the results of its calculations in March 2021 and said Apophis will provide an excellent opportunity for astronomers to get a close-up view of a remnant of the Solar System.

Researchers at Russia's Emergencies Ministry estimated that if it crashed into Earth, Apophis would release energy equivalent to 1,717 megatons, 30 times more powerful than the Tsar Bomba that the Soviet Union tested in 1961, the atomic bomb. The largest ever detonated. The impact force will cause a 6.5-magnitude earthquake over a 10 km radius with winds of at least 790 m/s, according to Sputnik. For comparison, a tornado with winds of about 90 m/s was able to sweep through even the most fortified houses. According to Parker, any damage from a collision with Apophis would be very strong whether on land or at sea, such as a tsunami.