Neil Degrasse Tyson: An Asteroid Will Hit Earth Sooner than Expected!

Quote Neil deGrasse Tyson: “On Friday, April 13, 2029, an asteroid large enough to fill an entire soccer stadium will pass so close to Earth that it will dip below the altitude of our communications satellites. We have not named this asteroid Bambi. Instead, it is called Apophis, after the Egyptian god of darkness and death.

If Apophis’ trajectory remains as it is at the moment, the influence of Earth’s gravity will steer it onto a path that will cause it to hit Earth directly seven years later in 2036, on its next orbit. In this case, Apophis would hit the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii and the resulting tsunami would wipe out the entire west coast of North America, bury Hawaii and devastate all the land masses of the Pacific Ring.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson confronts us with gruesome prospects. Apophis is undoubtedly one of the most dangerous asteroids of our time and it will pass so close to Earth in 2029 that it will come closer to the surface than our satellites. The crucial question then is what effect this flyby will have on the asteroid.

Apophis may be pulled into an orbit in 2029 that puts it on a direct collision course with Earth; if it misses this keyhole, it will be deflected so far that we have nothing to fear in 2036.

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