Nikolai Zheleznov, senior researcher at the Institute of Applied Astronomy (IPA) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said the potentially dangerous asteroid Apophis would fly at a record close range from Earth if it lands on the planet in 2029. It can destroy a territory similar to some parts of the Russian Federation. It has been reported DEA News.
According to him, there will be serious problems in such a situation, but they will not lead to a global disaster.
The astronomer emphasized that according to the latest data, Apophis should fly on April 13, 2029 at a distance of 32 thousand km from the Earth. The publication states that stationary satellites fly at approximately the same distance.
Before that, at the Goddard Space Flight Center declarationthat the tail of asteroid 3200 Phaethon is composed of sodium gas, not dust.
The near-Earth asteroid Phaeton belongs to the Apollo group and is not large in size – only slightly more than 5 km in diameter. It also has extremely unusual, comet-like features.
Previously, physicists calculated where this works best to hide from a nuclear explosion.