is it true that earth will be hit by a meteor in 2029?

Question

some old guy told that a rock bout the size of the moon will hit earth in 2029 is that true.

Answer 1

I tell you over 22 years.......

Answer 2

(a) it is an asteroid called 99942 Apophis not a meteor

(b) the mass of the entire asteroid belt is no more than 4% of the mass of the moon and 98% of the belt lies between Mars and Jupiter. Ceres (by far the largest asteroid) is itself 32% of the mass of the belt and is safely at 2.8 AU from the Sun.

There is no rock the size of the Moon therefore and the old guy has exaggerated a rumour he heard.

(c) there will not be an impact in 2029 as there was first thought there might be when Apophis was first discovered in 2004. More data was collected and the orbit recalculated and it will miss.

The facts are these:

Asteroid 99942 Apophis (not a meteor) (which is 320 metres long) has a 11 month orbit inside the earth's orbit. and crosses our orbit twice in that 11 months. once on its way out to its aphelion and once on its way back in again. It has been doing this for millions of years without accident or incident yet,

The account given above is out of date and stems from the initial news reaction in December 2004 as regards a possible 2029 impact. I will let Wikipedia pick the story up from, there ...

"99942 Apophis (previously known by its provisional designation 2004 MN4) is a near-Earth asteroid that caused a brief period of concern in December 2004 because initial observations indicated a relatively large probability that it would strike the Earth in 2029. Additional observations provided improved predictions that eliminated the possibility of an impact on Earth or the Moon in 2029.

However there remained a possibility that during the 2029 close encounter with Earth, Apophis would pass through a "gravitational keyhole", a precise region in space no more than about 400 meters across, that would set up a future impact on April 13, 2036. This possibility kept the asteroid at Level 1 on the Torino impact hazard scale until August 2006.

Additional observations of the trajectory of Apophis revealed the "keyhole" would likely be missed and on August 5, 2006, Apophis was lowered to a Level 0 on the Torino Scale.

As of October 19, 2006 the impact probability for April 13, 2036 is estimated at 1 in 45,000. An additional impact date in 2037 has been identified, however the impact probability for that encounter is 1 in 12.3 million."

The link below has much detail of how the initial observations were checked and recalculated, over 3 days at Christmas 2004 leading to the conclusion that the postulated 2029 impact would not (with more data now gathered) take place.

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NASA would have posted news of a meteor heading towards earth and the risk factor involved by now if such a report had any substance to it.

Answer 3

To answer your question, of course the Earth will be hit by a meteor in 2029, just as in every year before or after.
The size of the colliding body is a random effect. There is no way of knowing when an "Earth buster" will strike us. The only thing certain is that one will, some day.
It has happened in the past, and these bodies are out there, with their orbits undergoing constant change, and it is a sure bet we will be hit. Just within the last ten years, at least three bodies of asteroidal size have passed the Earth at a distance less than that of the moon. We sit like a bulls eye in the center of a target, and it's just a matter of time.
If I were you, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it, though. Estimates are that such a collision occurs approximately once in 200,000 years, and evidence shows that we are about due. Still, it's extremely unlikely that you or I, or our children,grandchildren and even great,great,great....grandchildren will be here for it.

Answer 4

No, that old guy was totally wrong. At one time it was though that a VERY SMALL (much less than one mile wide) asteroid named Apophis had a chance to hit then, but new observations have ruled out that possibility. No asteroid the size of the Moon even exists. The largest asteroid in existence is Ceres, and even it is much smaller than the Moon. Anyway, Ceres orbits between Mars and Jupiter and has no chance at all of ever hitting Earth.

Answer 5

We know of nothing that's going to strike Earth in 2029 or any other time. Definitely nothing as big as the moon..! All known objects that even come near Earth are carefully monitored and none pose a big threat. Check them out for yourself at this website ==>http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/risk/

Answer 6

What kind of authority does this old guy have on the subject. I think he exaggerated something he saw on TV. An asteroid, much smaller than the moon, maybe about a mile across, is expected to come closer to the earth than the moon. A near miss, but the chances of impact are very small.

Answer 7

Nothing in the "future" is true. For something to be true it must have happened. It is possible for it to be true that the plotted orbits of the earth and the meteor you are referring to are projected to cross paths, however, until they actuall do and the meteor collides with earth, it cannot be a truth.

Answer 8

Who knows? One can hit us anytime today, tomorrow, or 100 years from now....we don't know. It is impossible to keep track of all the asteroids, so there is always a chance that one would hit us.

Answer 9

first we have to get through the Economic and Environmental disasters which occur from 2010 to 2012.

Answer 10

The most recent article I could find was today at cbs.com. and it says that it wont be hitting earth, nor the moon.

Answer 11

i have an article somewhere that says one wold hit in 2013.

Its wierd that I can find anything about this article online anymore.