Asteroid ‘God of chaos’ will hurtle close to the earth’s surface in 2029 at a surprising distance of 19,000 miles. The 99942 Apophis asteroid will pass under communication and weather satellites in orbit, travelling at almost 25,000 mph when it rockets past the earth. According to reports, the asteroid is taller than the Eiffel Tower.
“Many scientists are keeping a close eye on the asteroid Apophis, which in 10 years will pass just 19,000 miles from Earth - basically skimming the surface in cosmological terms. To put in perspective just how close it will be, consider the fact Apophis will pass between weather satellites and the Earth,” educational YouTube channel Second Thought explained in a video.
If the 27bn kg asteroid were to hit Earth, scientists calculate it would leave a crater more than a mile wide and a staggering 518 metres deep, Express reported.
It added that the 370-metre-wide asteroid is potentially on a collision course with Earth – and the NASA is unable to completely rule out a strike. The impact would be equivalent to 880 million tons of TNT being detonated – 65,000 times as powerful as the nuclear bomb which was dropped on Hiroshima.
Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX and Tesla, has already warned that a massive asteroid will hit Earth and space agencies will not be able to do anything about it.
“Great name! Wouldn’t worry about this particular one, but a big rock will hit Earth eventually & we currently have no defense,” Musk tweeted while responding to a news on the NASA is preparing for the ‘colossal God of Chaos’ asteroid.
Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun. Although asteroids orbit the Sun like planets, they are much smaller than planets. You must be aware that asteroids, if hit Earth, can bring massive destruction to our planet and also to human life. The effects of an asteroid strike—tsunamis, shock waves, and flattening winds, could be catastrophic. Asteroids can approach towards the Earth due to the gravitational forces that affect them. In recent days, we all have heard about many asteroids including 2019 NN3, 2019 MB4, 2019 MT2, 2006 QV89, 2016 NO56M, RF12 and others going past through our planet. Although these asteroids were really close to Earth, but we were really fortunate.
According to a report of spacetelescope.org, there are more than 7 lakh asteroids that have been found in space. It further added that asteroids are mainly found in an area called the ‘main belt’, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.