07/01/2022
TWO ASTEROID IS EXPECTED TO MAKE A PASS CLOSE TO EARTH IN 2028 AND 2029
An asteroid 1997 XF11 is likely to pass within 30,000 miles of Earth on Oct. 26, 2028, a Thursday, published on March 11, 1998.
It’s the year 2028, and the European Space Agency has been carefully monitoring the situation: an enormous asteroid is en route to strike Earth, although the exact point of impact is not yet clear.
Another near-Earth asteroid named 99942 estimated to be about 1,100 feet (340 meters) across, Apophis quickly gained notoriety as an asteroid that could pose a serious threat to Earth when astronomers predicted that it would come uncomfortably close in April 23, 2029 with another potential impact risk posed by another close approach in 2036 and 2068.
Scientists in Russia have projected that the asteroid Apophis will skim past the Earth in April 2029 in what could be the closest encounter the planet has had with a rock of its size. Apophis will come within 39,000km (24,000 miles) of the Earth’s surface – close to the distance at which television satellites operate – according to forecasts by the Russian emergencies ministry, news agency Sputnik reported.
The Russian ministry’s researchers estimated that if the asteroid struck Earth, it would release energy equal to 1,717 megatons. That would be 30 times the force of the Soviet Tsar Bomba tested in 1961, the largest nuclear bomb ever detonated.
Such an impact would cause a 6.5-magnitude earthquake over a radius of 10km, with wind speed of at least 790 metres per second, according to Sputnik. By comparison, a tornado with wind speed of about 90 metres per second would be capable of sweeping away well-constructed houses.
References:
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Videos/2019/04/Asteroid_impact_2028_Protecting_our_planet
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-analysis-earth-is-safe-from-asteroid-apophis-for-100-plus-years
https://amp.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3162116/asteroid-30-times-force-biggest-nuclear-bomb-miss-earth-2029
Photo: NASA