But that’s still close enough to come between us and some Earth-orbiting spacecraft. In 2029, it will pass safely some 19,800 miles (31,900 kilometers) from Earth’s surface, according to NASA.
In the years since then, however, astronomers have shown that it’s extremely unlikely that Apophis will hit Earth in the coming decades. But if Apophis were to pass through it, the asteroid's orbit could be altered enough to put it on a direct collision course with Earth. That may not sound too concerning, but those odds are terribly high compared to the odds of an impact from any other known large asteroids.Īstronomers also thought there was a small chance Apophis could pass through something called a gravitational “keyhole.” This small region of space takes up only a half a mile or so between Earth and the Moon. Astronomers can combine the data from citizen scientists across the world and try to glean insights into the asteroid.Īpophis rose to infamy back in 2004 after observations suggested there was a nearly 3 percent chance it could slam into Earth in April 2029. And the cameras used on modern telescopes are now advanced enough that many should be able to detect the dimming starlight, even if the human eye can't notice it through an eyepiece. However, there are legions of amateur astronomers along the occultation path, all with backyard telescopes. But after Arecibo’s collapse, researchers are left to find other means of studying the near-Earth asteroid. In the past, astronomers have captured other close flybys of Apophis using the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.
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The dearth of major observatories along that path means it’s unlikely professional telescopes will get a good view. Because of the specifics of the alignment, it will only be visible from a very thin, winding line that stretches across Earth’s surface from the Pacific Northwest all the way to West Africa.
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The telescope company Unistellar has put together an article with detailed instructions on how to observe the Apophis occultation. Pluto’s faint atmosphere and the rings of Uranus, for example, were both discovered when those planets occulted distant stars.Īnd that’s why researchers are calling on amateur astronomers to pull out their telescopes on February 21 to try and capture the Apophis occultation.
In the past century, occultations have yielded a range of insights into distant objects that would’ve been otherwise hard to discover from Earth. Such occultations are a great chance to learn more about the size, shape and composition of planetary bodies.
It’s like a miniature version of what happens when Earth’s Moon eclipses the Sun.
Central Time, Apophis will move across the face of a distant star, creating what astronomers call an occultation. On Sunday, February 21, at around 11:50 P.M. We now know Apophis won't hit Earth anytime soon, but the upcoming flyby will still provide a relatively rare opportunity to study the space rock up close.Īs the asteroid draws near, it will also make a fortuitous pass in front of a relatively bright star, letting amateur astronomers get in on the action. And in March, the aircraft carrier-sized asteroid will make its final close path to Earth before 2029, a year when astronomers once wondered if it would strike our planet. The asteroid Apophis sits atop a shortlist of potentially dangerous objects that could one day hit Earth.
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