An asteroid larger than two football fields could strike the earth in 2036, according to Russian scientists. The chances of the Apophis Asteroid hitting the earth are very slim, however a newly released Russian report pinpoints the day of the collision.
“It’s likely collision with Earth may occur on April 13, 2036,” Professor Leonid Sokolov of St. Petersburg State University concluded. Sokolov said even though the chances of impact are slim, it’s important to plan for all possible scenarios. He added the asteroid is most likely to disintegrate into smaller parts that could collide with Earth in following years.
The Apophis Asteroid made headlines in 2009 when scientists predicted a greater than 2 percent chance of impact. Initially believing the asteroid could hit earth in 2029, they later ruled out the impact. NASA scientists are now at odds with Russians on the chances of collision. “Technically, they’re correct, there is a chance in 2036 [that Apophis will hit Earth],” said Donald Yeomans, head of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office. “But that chance is just 1-in-250,000.”
Yeomans goes on to explain the theory behind the Russian report. “The situation is that in 2029, April 13, [Apophis] flies very close to the Earth, within five Earth radii, so that will be quite an event, but we’ve already ruled out the possibility of it hitting at that time,” Yeomans told Life’s Little Mysteries. “On the other hand, if it goes through what we call a keyhole during that close Earth approach … then it will indeed be perturbed just right so that it will come back and smack Earth on April 13, 2036,” Yeomans said. The chances of the asteroid going through the keyhole, which is tiny compared to the asteroid, are “minuscule,” Yeomans added.
