Earth’s close encounter with giant asteroid Apophis is less than 3 years away

Speaking about the size of the asteroid, it would be around 340 meters wide, roughly the size of three football fields.This event is quite rare as an asteroid of this size passing this closer to Earth is assessed to happen only once every 5,000 to 10,000 years.The close flyby is not expected to cause any impact on Earth as it will safely miss Earth.

When it was first discovered by astronomers, fears were based on the idea of a gravitational keyhole.

It is a narrow region in space where Earth’s gravity could change the asteroid path for future impact.

But recent updates do not show such an impact.Apophis is expected to be seen through naked eyes from various locations such as from parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and eastern South America.Scientists are gearing up to study the asteroid from multiple angles: the European Space Agency’s RAMSES mission and NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX will both visit it directly, while the LUMIO CubeSat will keep watch from beyond the Moon.

Earth’s close encounter with giant asteroid Apophis is less than 3 years away October 24, 2026.