You have picked up a garbled doom-and-gloom version of the story of Asteroid 99942 Apophis that has been circulating on sensationalist American TV Channels and in the gutter press.
The current position is this: having re-calculated the orbit, based on further observations,
(1) there will be no impact in 2029
(2) the odds against an impact in 2036 are now 45,000 to 1 against
(3) the odds against an impact in 2037 are now 12.3 million to 1 against
At those odds, I am not going to lose any sleep over this and can sleep easily in my bed at night and suggest you can do the same.
Sensationalist "reporting" (fantasy-mongering!) simply recycles and exaggerates old information based on stories written in December 2004 when for a 3-day period over Christmas, until further observations were undertaken, there was some initial concern about a possible 2029 impact.
Those fears have long since been allayed but writing a story entitled "Panic Over! There Won't Be An Impact After All" won't sell many newspapers or attract any viewers to boost your channel's ratings: and so they prefer to string readers and viewers along with stories of "Killer Asteroid, Heading Straight For Earth" "It's As Big As the Moon!" and "We Are All Going To Die!"
I will let Wikipedia summarise what happened in December 2004 and since, as it is succinctly written:
"(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."
COMMENT
For those who are still worried, you may find it reassuring to know
(1) that there are plans to take radar readings of Apophis in 2013 when it is next close by to be able to calculate its orbit up to 2070 and beyond, and
(2) there are also plans to place a transponder on the asteroid (like a spy in the cab for a long-distance lorry driver) to enable us to monitor its every movement
(3) it is only 320 metres long, anyway, too small to cause an extinction event on earth if it did ever hit us.
2007-05-24 19:57:05
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answer #1
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answered by Anonymous
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Not exactly. For the asteroid to pose a threat to the Earth it must pass through a gravitational keyhole between the earth and the moon in 2029. (The odds of this happening are estimated at 45:000 to 1.) If this happens, Apophis (the asteroid) will swing back around on a "potential" collision course with earth in 2036.
Perhaps it can't be stopped... but it can be diverted.
You can read more about it at: http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/air_space/4201569.html
2007-05-24 16:59:44
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answer #2
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answered by CC 2
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First of all this asteroid is supposed to miss us by a million miles, whixh is 4 times the distance from the earth to the moon.
Second. Live a good life and do not worry about that which you can not control. We have people working on just such a defense system now.. Go out. Hug your friends. Enjoy life. For tomorrow we may die
2007-05-24 16:56:48
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answer #3
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answered by walt631 4
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If it's the one I'm thinking of it'll be yet another near miss asteroid. It has a probability of somewhere around 1% or less of actually colliding with the Earth. I believe it'll be visible though so it'll be something interesting to see.
There's a reason that space is sometimes called a "cosmic shooting gallery." Basically there's *a lot* of debris of various kinds floating around out there and we cross paths with a good bit of it on our journey around the sun. Really though, the odds of anything impacting us within your lifetime are extremely small. Think of the asteroid as an interesting astronomical event and don't worry too much about it.
2007-05-24 16:56:09
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answer #4
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answered by Digital Haruspex 5
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it extremely is spelled "asteroid." on an identical time as there is often a huge gamble of an asteroid hitting Earth, the possibility is transforming into to be much less and much less as we map the possibility zone around Earth extra heavily. The asteroid which will bypass on the factor human beings on February 15 has been regularly occurring approximately for many months, and poses extremely no danger. There are at present day NO asteroids or comets heading in the direction of an effect with Earth. I want human beings might comprehend purely how vast area is, and how hardly does something collide with something. that's a lot extra significant to artwork to remedy _real_ threats like worldwide warming.
2016-11-05 07:52:56
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answer #5
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answered by ? 4
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2029? Hmm maybe I will actually get to see this one without a bunch of clouds to mess up the night sky.
2007-05-24 20:50:57
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answer #6
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answered by d4d9er 5
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Lol, some pretty funny answers. I just hope I live to see this, it 'll be fun to watch a live event version of the movie "Armageddon"!
2007-05-24 18:25:57
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answer #7
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answered by Anonymous
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There are many in near earth orbit. The can't stop part - we probably can alter it's trajectory.
2007-05-24 16:54:17
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answer #8
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answered by Anonymous
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dood if we can't thats it so u know ,lets get to mars b4 that!!!
lol
but u know the s always going to be astroids hitting us and u know play our cards right we will survive
2007-05-24 16:53:00
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answer #9
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answered by Anonymous
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Its been delayed. It should be here around 2034. But you know those asteroids...always messing up plans.
2007-05-24 16:53:48
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answer #10
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answered by Anonymous
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