Asteroid Apophis: Good News or Bad News?
Posted by Science Oxford on October 13, 2009 | comments
Asteroid hunter Dr. David Tholen has got some good news and some bad news about the asteroid Apophis. Find out more below…
Visit this page »University of Hawaii asteroid hunter Dr. David Tholen has some good news and some bad news for us. The good news is that the estimated probability of asteroid Apophis colliding with Earth in 2036 has been reduced from 1 chance in about 45,000 to 1 chance in about 250,000. The bad news is that the improved orbit determination for Apophis has revealed a new impact possibility in 2068.
The new estimates are based on an extensive set of observations obtained at Mauna Kea Observatories and analyzed by Tholen, former UH postdoctoral researcher Dr. Fabrizio Bernardi (now at the University of Pisa, Italy), and current UH graduate students Marco Micheli and Garrett Elliott. Dr. Steve Chesley of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California determined the positions of Apophis derived from those observations.
“Our new orbit solution shows that Apophis will miss Earth’s surface in 2036 by a scant 20,270 miles, give or take 125 miles,” Tholen said. “That’s slightly closer to Earth than most of our communications and weather satellites.” He credits the large telescopes and superb atmospheric conditions on Mauna Kea for being able to make these determinations.
With the possibility of an impact in 2068, Apophis will become the target of even more observations as soon as it reappears from behind the Sun in 2010 and beyond.
Apophis was discovered in 2004 by Tholen, Bernardi, and Roy Tucker of the University of Arizona. The asteroid became famous about six months later when additional observations indicated an impact probability as high as 1 chance in 37 on April 13, 2029 (coincidentally, a Friday). But prediscovery observations identified in data taken earlier in that year soon showed that the asteroid would miss Earth in 2029.
The improved orbit determination is being presented this week at the annual meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society being held in Puerto Rico.
[Image credit: UH/IA]
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