In December of 2004, the very month many countries in the Indian Ocean were devastated by Tsunamis, a new Asteroid was discovered by scientists.
Most asteroids receive a number and a letter and never make it beyond the fancy of a few scientists or astronomers.
But this asteroid is now known as "Apophis.
" The name is from the ancient Egyptian god of Darkness and Evil.
Not only does it have a catchy and foreboding name, it has also gained some recent notoriety, as you will read below.
Why the sudden public interest, you may ask? There is a real chance this asteroid could impact our planet and cause enough destruction beyond imagination.
Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are comets and asteroids that have been nudged by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into orbits that allow them to enter the Earth's neighborhood.
Most of the rocky asteroids were formed in the warmer inner solar system between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
Billions of comets were formed in the colder outer planetary system.
Likewise, asteroids today are left over from the initial formation of the inner planets that include Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.
Asteroid strikes are almost incomprehensible to humans with their extreme damage and violence.
No one in living history has seen a big strike but we know they happen.
Apophis is estimated to be over 1500 meters in size.
A mile is over 5,280 feet so it almost a mile in size.
That is bad for earth.
For a good comparison, it is much larger than the Rose Bowl in California.
It will come so close to Earth on Friday, April 13 2029 that it will pass underneath the orbits of many of our communication satellites.
That is only 22,000 miles out.
If you are in the right spot, you will be able to go outside, look up and see Apophis with the naked eye.
All calculations are very certain of this near miss.
So you might be thinking, "Whew, now that is close.
" If you are thinking we are out of the woods, well, think again.
As soon as Apophis makes this spectacular pass within Earth's orbit, perhaps taking out some of our satellites in the process, scientists will be able to immediately inform humankind of our destiny.
Well, maybe not our final destiny, but we will know what the future holds in 7 years time.
This "near miss" by Apophis in 2029 is not the end of the story.
There exists a place around our planet termed a "keyhole.
" If Apophis enters this small window around our planet, it will be "caught" by Earth's gravity.
If this occurs, it will be too late to do anything about this.
We will be a sitting target.
If it enters this keyhole, it will circle Earth for 7 years.
Then, on April 13 2036, Apophis, an asteroid bigger than the Rose Bowl and close to a mile in size, will smash into this planet in the Mid-Pacific Ocean north of the equator.
The best case, as far as humankind and many other species are concerned, is for an impact on land.
But it will not strike land.
The exact spot has already been calculated.
Since Apophis was discovered scientists have been using the super-computers to calculate all the possibilities.
The point of impact has not changed, nor has the date.
Recent Publicity for Apophis: The link below is a video from PBS that was broadcast on Tuesday, October 3 2006 from the program "Nova Science Now".
Dr.
Neil deGrasse Tyson and Rusty Schweickart (Apollo Astronaut) discuss Apophis.
It is only 15 minutes and worth your time.
Click on the player of your choice on the left underneath the Asteroid picture.
Dr.
Tyson is a famous astrophysicist and is the Director of the Hayden Planetarium which is part of the Museum of Natural History in New York City.
http://www.
pbs.
org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3313/01.
html