Table of Contents
How does NASA know if an asteroid?
Using radar tracking data, NEO observers can more precisely determine the orbital path of an asteroid and predict that path out years into the future. Observing an asteroid for less than an hour with radar will provide a more precise determination of the orbit than months of observations from an optical telescope.
What asteroid will hit Earth?
Apophis
On average, an asteroid the size of Apophis (370 metres) is expected to impact Earth once in about 80,000 years….99942 Apophis.
Discovery | |
---|---|
Semi-major axis | 0.9227 AU (138.03 Gm) |
Eccentricity | 0.1914 |
Orbital period | 0.89 yr (323.7 d) |
Average orbital speed | 30.73 km/s |
What is the closest an asteroid has ever been to Earth?
This is the closest approach by an asteroid of this size that scientists have known about in advance. The orbit of Apophis crosses the orbit of Earth. It completes an orbit around the Sun in a bit less than one Earth year (about 0.9 years).
What will happen when asteroid Apophis passes by Earth?
At its closest approach to Earth, just before 6 p.m. EDT, April 13, 2029, Apophis will be over the Atlantic Ocean. It will move so fast that it will cross the Atlantic in just an hour. By 7 p.m. EDT, the asteroid will have crossed over the United States. As it passes by Earth, it will get brighter and faster.
What happened to the asteroid that hit Earth in 2029?
As a result of its close encounter with Earth in 2029, the asteroid’s orbit will be widened to become slightly larger than the width of Earth’s orbit. At this point it will be reclassified from the Aten group to the “Apollo” group (the group of Earth-crossing asteroids with orbits wider than 1 AU).
What is the size of the asteroid 99942 Apophis?
In Depth Asteroid 99942 Apophis is a near-Earth asteroid more than 1000 feet (over 300 meters) in size that will harmlessly pass close to Earth on April 13, 2029. When it was discovered in 2004, the asteroid caused a stir because initial calculations indicated a small possibility it would impact Earth in 2029.