Asteroid 99942 Apophis: Hybrids won't stop it

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The object was found in 2004 through the efforts of NASA’s Spaceguard Survey. In 1998 NASA formally initiated the Spaceguard Survey by adopting the objective of finding 90 percent of the near Earth asteroids larger than 3,280 feet (one kilometer) diameter within the next decade - before the end of 2008.

Asteroid 99942 Apophis - first labeled as 2004 MN4 — is estimated to be roughly 1,000 feet (320 meters) in diameter. Were it to strike Earth, it would not set off global havoc but would generate significant local or regional damage, experts say.

Worrisome to asteroid watchers is the exceptionally close flyby of Earth by Apophis on April 13, 2029. So close in fact, the space rock will be naked-eye visible as it darts by. And what can’t be ruled out at this time is that Apophis may pass through a gravitational “keyhole” - a spot that alters the asteroid’s trajectory as it zips by our planet and might put it on the bee-line lane for banging into Earth seven years later.

source:space.com

Using limited observations and lots of high-end computer modeling, astronomers have gotten a better handle on the limitations of asteroid-track forecasting in a new study of a potentially threatening asteroid called 99942 Apophis.In this high-stakes game of Whack-a-Cosmic-Mole, just knowing exactly what it is you don’t know can be useful.

Apophis’ chance of hitting our planet in its first pass in 2029 is now slim to none, but astronomers will have to wait four to six years before they can predict what it might do during a second pass in 2036.

A team of scientists arrived at the conclusion after accounting for small influences like the solar wind, gravitational drag of smaller asteroids and human error.

The rock is between 690 and 1080 feet (210 and 330 meters) wide. That’s much smaller than the 6-mile-wide rock that likely wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, but it’s enough to take out a large city or create a tsunami.

source: Fox

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