They capture an image of the «God of Chaos», a huge asteroid approaching Earth.

A new asteroid appears to be close to Earth.

On March 6, Apophis will be brightest for telescopes and will be at its closest distance to our planet, about 15 million kilometers.

Apophis is the potentially most dangerous asteroid for Earth right now. On March 6, it will be brighter for telescopes and will be at its closest distance from our planet, about 15 million kilometers.

Now, it has managed to be photographed by some virtual terrestrial telescopes, as is the case of the Virtual Telescope Project. He managed to obtain an image of the asteroid through a single 300-second exposure of the sky. It appears as a small white dot marked with a stela to its right and its actual size is estimated to be about 340 meters wide.

Almost no possibility of impact.

It began to attract the attention of astronomers in 2004, when it was indicated that there was a probability of collision with the Earth in 2029. However, the constant investigations on Apophis reduced the impact hypothesis for that year to practically zero.

According to NASA forecasts, it will get much closer on April 13, 2029, although it will pose no real threat. That day will be visible to the naked eye in the night sky and it is estimated that it will pass some 31,000 kilometers above the Earth`s surface, a distance less than that of some of the spacecraft that orbit the Earth.

Possible in 2068!

Marina Brozovic, a scientist with the North American space agency, explained that "the approach of Apophis in 2029 will be an incredible opportunity for science. We will observe the asteroid with optical and radar telescopes. With radar observations, we could see details of the surface" .

What a study by the University of Hawaii did reveal was a possibility of impact for the year 2068. The reason is due to the fact that a Yarkovsky-type acceleration was detected in Apophis, an effect that modifies the orbits of small celestial bodies by the shape in which they absorb the radiation of the Sun.

Publication Date: 2021-02-23

Source: CNN en Español, AS.COM