Since its 4.5 billion years of existence, our planet has been ‘invaded’ by space objects. While some of these objects didn’t cause much noticeable harm, a few, like the space rock that brought about the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, caused major damage. This has made scientists watch out for incoming space objects like Apophis, which was discovered in 2004. So, should we expect an invasion? Here is everything scientists know.
What’s Apophis’ business with planet Earth?
Apophis is a space rock discovered by three planetary scientists with the Kitt Peak Observatory in 2004. While it’s not the first space rock found, Apophis seemed to be headed towards Earth– and this caused a panic.
It was predicted that Apophis would pass through a gravitational keyhole near our planet, which would cause a collision in 2036. Since there’s no way to change the rock’s direction, scientists have been studying its orbit chart closely.
What did these observations say?
After the first discovery of Apophis, European astronomers, NASA’s automated sky search, and other astronomers have tried to track the space rock. The observations revealed that Apophis would be so close to Earth on April 13, 2029, that a collision might happen.
However, the asteroid’s predicted flyby won’t cause a major directory change, meaning the likelihood of a 2036 impact on Earth is low. Although Apophis will pass by Earth at a distance of 23 million kilometers, a collision is very unlikely.
Can the space rock’s direction be altered?
They didn’t totally rule out the possibility of other space rocks impacting Earth. For this reason, different groups have been looking for possible ways to change the direction of space rocks.
One prominent idea is the gravity tractor, which involves orbiting a spacecraft around the asteroid and using the mutual pull of gravity to change the rock’s trajectory. Although this idea still requires some major tech advancement, it’s a promising one that can help prevent future disasters.
Apophis might become a mining site
In the wake of the collision scare, investigations were carried out to learn more about Apophis. Scientists found that Apophis is a massive space rock about 350 meters across and part of many asteroids that cross Earth’s orbit.
Apophis is irregularly shaped and is categorized as a class Sq asteroid; S means it’s mainly a silicate rock, while q means its spectrum has some metallic features. Like the planetesimals that formed Earth, advanced space exploration might make us start using Apophis for mining and extracting minerals.
We’re safe now, but what about in the future?
The ability of NASA and other agencies to discover facts about Apophis’ orbit and direction is quite impressive. However, it also raises the need for more ways of detecting space rocks before they get too close to Earth.
Since there are about 1,500 near-Earth objects out there, it’s essential to research further ways to detect them earlier. Also, as mentioned earlier, different planetary scientific bodies are working on deflection systems to prevent collisions.
