99942 Apophis

Path of risk where 99942 Apophis may impact Earth in 2036. Source: data estimated by the B612 Foundation.

(99942) Apophis is a near-Earth asteroid that worried people for a short time in December 2004. This was because observations seemed to show that it would hit the Earth in 2029. Other observations had more accurate, or better, ideas. During 2029, Apophis would go through a "gravitational keyhole", an area in space no more than about 400 meters across. This would make it hit the Earth on April 13, 2029. This danger made the asteroid Level 1 on the Torino impact hazard scale until August 2006.

More watching showed scientists that the "keyhole" would be missed. On August 5, 2006, Apophis was lowered to a Level 0 on the Torino Scale. As of October 19 2006 the probability that Apophis will hit the Earth on April 13, 2029 is something around 1 in 45,000. It may also hit in 2038, but however the probability for that encounter, or meeting, is 1 in 12.3 million.

There is some use, of a symbol ()) for the asteroid Apophis.

99942 Apophis Media

PIA23195-AsteroidApophis-ClosestApproachToEarth-20190429
Atum facing Apep, tomb of Ramesses I, 19th Dynasty (c. 1292–1290 BC)
Comparison between the best-fit convex and nonconvex shape models, and some of the available radar images of (99942) Apophis
Comparison of possible size of Apophis asteroid with the Eiffel Tower and Empire State Building
The pre-2029 (red) and post-2029 (green) orbits of Apophis, and the orbit of Earth (yellow). The distance between the dotted curve and the solid curve shows how far the orbit is north or south of the ecliptic plane. This gives the distance from Earth's orbit at the points where the solid curves cross the yellow curve.
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Illustration of a common trend where progressively reduced uncertainty regions result in an asteroid impact probability increasing followed by a sharp decrease
Image sequence of asteroid (99942) Apophis, taken on 28 February 2021 with the 0.25-m Ritchey-Chretien telescope and QHY42 camera by G. Wells and D. Bamberger at Northolt Branch Observatories.
Hypothetical risk corridor for an impact on 13 April 2029, based on the 2020–21 planetary defense exercise
Asteroid 99942 Apophis – radar observations 8–10 March 2021 (26 March 2021)