NASA says Earth is safe from asteroid Apophis for at least the next century

One of the largest asteroids that NASA is tracking has an orbit bringing it close to the earth is officially called asteroid 99942. The asteroid is also known as Apophis, the Egyptian god of chaos and darkness. NASA has recently announced that it has determined the asteroid doesn't pose a threat of hitting the Earth for at least the next 100 years.

Apophis was discovered in 2004, and a recent study delivered revised calculations that can accurately predict the orbit of the asteroid. Apophis measures 1110-feet wide, and past estimates showed that it might come extremely close to the Earth in 2029 and 2036, with a slight chance of hitting the earth in 2068. Its last pass near our planet was on March 5, but it was 10 million miles away.

Despite being so far away from the planet, NASA was able to use radar observations to better understand how Apophis was orbiting the sun. The new calculations ruled out any risk of an impact in 2068. Scientists say that with the recent observations, the uncertainty about the orbit of the asteroid has declined from hundreds of kilometers to a handful of kilometers when projected to 2029.

That is considered a significant improvement in positional knowledge, giving much more insight into the asteroid's future motion. Astronomers were able to acquire precise information about the asteroid's distance to an accuracy of about 150 meters. Data gathered will also help scientists to learn more about the shape of the asteroid and its rotation rate. Currently, astronomers believe Apophis is shaped like a peanut.

When the asteroid flies by the Earth in 2029, it will pass within 20,000 miles of the surface, which is closer than some satellites orbit. It's also ten times closer to Earth than the moon. The asteroid will be visible to people in the eastern hemisphere with the naked eye.