The asteroid Apophis will fly up to the Earth at the distance of the orbits of geostationary satellites in 2029, predicts the All-Russian Research Institute for Civil Defense and Emergencies of the Ministry of Emergencies of the Russian Federation. NASA noted that there is no risk of collision of this asteroid with Earth for at least the next 100 years.
The energy that will be released in the event of a collision will amount to 1.7 thousand megatons, according to experts from the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation. This is 30 times more than in the explosion of the most powerful Soviet thermonuclear bomb in the world, tested in 1961. “The most potentially dangerous is the asteroid Apophis … On April 13, 2029, it will approach the Earth at a distance of 38.4 thousand km, which is close to the altitude of the orbits of geostationary satellites (35.8 thousand km),” the VNII GOChS forecast says (quote according to “RIA Novosti”).
The asteroid’s diameter is 393 m, weight – about 27 tons. The asteroid’s approach speed will be 7.42 km per second. In the event of a collision, the strength of an earthquake within a radius of 10 km will reach 6.5 on the Richter scale. The wind speed will be at least 790 meters per second.
The asteroid Apophis was discovered in 2004. Initially, scientists believed that there was a risk of its collision with the Earth in 2029 or 2036, but these versions were ruled out as the object was observed. Until March 2021, it was believed that there was a potential danger of rapprochement in 2068. However, NASA experts now believe that there is no risk of collision for at least the next 100 years.
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