Close pass with asteroid Apophis
- From: News Limited Network
- January 10, 2013
- Asteroid's near-Earth orbit a real cause for concern
- Intersection of orbits in 2036 could produce collision
- Thursday's 11am close-pass live at Slooh.com
THE ASTEROID Apophis has crossed Earth's path. Now, astronomers will return to their calculators to find out what danger it poses in the future.
The 300 metre-wide asteroid has made the first in a series of close approaches to the Earth predicted since it was first discovered in 2009.
Scientists ruled out any possibility of a devastating collision this time - but there remains a small chance the asteroid will smash into Earth in 2036.
This time, Apophis, named after an Egyptian god of destruction, was no closer than around 15 million kilometres.
In 2029, Apophis is expected to come uncomfortably close, brushing past the Earth at a distance of just 30,000 kilometres. That will put the asteroid inside the orbit of communication satellites.
Current models predict a small but real possibility that Apophis will strike the Earth in 2036 - but only if the space rock passes through a small "slingshot" region in space when it crosses our orbit in 2029.