Asteroid dubbed ‘God of Chaos’ set to brush alarmingly near Earth on very unfortunate date
An asteroid dubbed the ‘God of Chaos’ is going to come alarmingly close to striking Earth… on Friday 13th. Scientists have predicted Earth’s gravity could cause ‘astroquakes’ thanks to its sheer force.
Space rock 99942 Apophis – named after the Ancient Egyptian God of Chaos – will violently shake due to our planet’s gravitational pull when it passes within just 19,000 miles.
The asteroid – which measures a whopping 450m by 170m, roughly the size of the Empire State Building – will the zoom past our home planet in less than five years, on April 13, 2029. The Planetary Society said its impact would be equivalent to detonating tens of hundreds of nuclear bombs if it were to strike Earth.
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The rock has been causing concern since 2004 when an initial examination by scientists found a small probability that it would hit Earth. Fortunately, that has been ruled out for at least a century.
(Image: Getty Images)
NASA said of the rock: “When it was discovered in 2004, Apophis was identified as one of the most hazardous asteroids that could impact Earth.
“But that impact assessment changed after astronomers tracked Apophis, and its orbit became better determined. A radar observation campaign in March 2021, combined with precise orbit analysis, allowed astronomers to conclude that there is no risk of Apophis impacting our planet for at least a century.”
Meanwhile Davide Farnocchia of NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), which is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, added: “A 2068 impact is not in the realm of possibility anymore, and our calculations don’t show any impact risk for at least the next 100 years.”
A team of researchers led by Ronald-Louis Ballouz, an asteroid scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, have investigated what might happen to Apophis when it passes through Earth’s gravitational field and found the possibility of these ‘astroquakes’.
(Image: Getty Images)
It’s believed it will pass near enough for our planet’s gravity to cause intense vibrations and surface shifts. Researchers predict Earth’s gravitational force could have two dramatic effects on Apophis – tremors and a shift in the asteroid’s tumbling motion.
But he and his team won’t know for sure until NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX mission rendezvous with Apophis during its flyby. The asteroid will be studied for 18 months to document any physical changes.
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