A huge asteroid the size of the Eifel Tower is set to whizz past Earth closer than any space rock of its size recorded in human history, boffins say. The enormous rock – dubbed the “God of destruction” – is thought to be 375m long and is hurtling towards us.
Nasa has been monitoring the asteroid closely for years and deems it “potentially hazardous” due to the proximity it’s expected to reach. It has also redirected its OSIRIS craft to follow the asteroid.
Named Apophis – after an Egyptian deity known as the God of evil, chaos, destruction eternal darkness – is scheduled to pass our planet on April 13, 2029. The European Space Agency is sending a spacecraft to shadow it as it speeds by.
Current projections predict it will reach about 20,000 miles from Earth’s surface, closer than some satellites used for weather and tele. But Nasa says there is no cause for alarm as there is zero risk of it coming close enough to hit Earth or anything else around us.
However it will be visible to the naked eye in a once in a lifetime opportunity. Nasa says an asteroid this large passes this close to Earth “only every few thousand years on average.
Therefore, it is thought an event like this has not happened at any time in recorded human history. Nasa said: “Without a doubt this is the first time it’s happened when humans have had the technology to observe it.
“There is no danger to Earth, to anyone or anything living on it, or to astronauts or satellites in space. But the event is an amazing and totally unprecedented opportunity to learn much more about Apophis and similar near-Earth asteroids.”
Astronomers previously believed there was a chance the upcoming flyby could alter its trajectory, lining it up for a collision with Earth in 2068.
The space debris was first spotted in 2004 by astronomers Roy Tucker, David Tholen, and Fabrizio Bernardi at Kitt Peak observatory near Tucson in the US state of Arizona.
David told NASA naming it after the ancient Egyptian god of evil and destruction seemed appropriate name for such a potentially destructive asteroid.
It briefly reached level 4 on Nasa’s Torino Impact Hazard Scale, which they use to assess possible space dangers and put it at a 2.7% risk of devastation. All danger was ruled out in 2021 after new radar observations, leaving Earth safe from impact for at least 100 years.
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