🔄FROM THE ARCHIVE: The asteroid Apophis is about to make its close flyby of Earth. And astronomers want to get a good look at it while they can.
Apophis will pass close to Earth in 2029, but there's very little chance it will hit us. The asteroid Apophis sits atop a shortlist of potentially dangerous objects that could one day hit Earth. 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.
And that’s why researchers are calling on amateur astronomers to pull out their telescopes on February 21 to try and capture the Apophis occultation.occultation. 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.
Astronomers 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. 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.
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