NASA, the United States space agency has issued a piece of good news for the earth and the entire humanity, as their recent studies suggest that rogue asteroid Apophis will not hit the blue planet in the next 100 years. Asteroid Apophis was discovered in 2004, and NASA, at that time had claimed that this space rock is one of the most hazardous space rock that could hit the earth one day or the other.
Asteroid Apophis: God of Chaos
After the initial discovery of asteroid Apophis, several space experts had suggested that a possible hit of the asteroid on earth could kill millions of people in a fraction of a second, and could also cause several structural damages.
Previously, astronomers believed that the asteroid Apophis will initially approach earth in 2029, followed by another close approach in 2036. Later, the asteroid will approach earth again in 2068, and experts suggested that there is a possibility of a collision. However, new data confirm that the earth is safe from the 2068 asteroid close approach.
"New data confirm Earth is safe from asteroid Apophis for next 100+ years. Apophis was previously identified as one of the most potentially hazardous asteroids, but new radar observations have ruled that out," wrote NASA on their Twitter page.
Asteroid Apophis no more poses threat to earth
Davide Farnocchia of NASA's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies revealed that "2068 impact is not in the realm of possibility anymore, and our calculations don't show any impact risk for at least the next 100 years."
NASA researchers made this conclusion after analyzing the result of new radar observations that happened when Apophis came closer earlier this month. In 2029, asteroid Apophis will be just 20,000 miles away from the earth's surface, but it will not hit the blue planet. However, this close approach could give astronomers a golden chance to study the asteroid on April 13, 2029.
