The collision of the asteroid Apophis with a diameter of 325 meters, which experts call the most potentially dangerous, is unlikely, Roscosmos reported, according to the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). The dangerous approach of another potentially dangerous asteroid, 2021 UL17, is not expected until the end of this century.
“The results of observations have clarified the parameters of his (Apophis. – “B”) orbital motion … Result: the probability of collision is very, very small. In addition, there have been reports of the discovery of a new asteroid 2021 UL17, approaching the Earth. According to preliminary calculations, a dangerous approach to the Earth is predicted on April 5, 2095, and the current probability of a collision is only 0.02%, “Roscosmos said in its Telegram message.
The asteroid Apophis was discovered in 2004. The Russian Emergencies Ministry reported that the energy that would be released in the event of a collision would be 30 times more than the explosion of the world’s most powerful Soviet thermonuclear bomb, tested in 1961. 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. NASA later noted that there is no risk of collision of this asteroid with Earth in the next 100 years.
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