“God of chaos” asteroid will pass close to Earth in 3 years, NASA says

An asteroid the size of three football fields will pass near Earth in three years, giving scientists a rare chance to study a colossal space rock up close.

Named Apophis – after the ancient Egyptian deity known as the “God of Chaos” – the asteroid is expected to fly by the planet on April 13, 2029, according to NASA. It will come within about 20,000 miles of the Earth’s surface, which is closer than many orbiting satellites, the agency said. The tallest satellites typically orbit about 22,000 miles above the equator.

Scientists consider Apophis a “potentially hazardous asteroid,” but NASA has reassured the public that it will leave Earth safely when it passes by in 2029. After years of monitoring, scientists say they are confident there is no risk of impact on Earth for at least 100 years.

“There is no danger to Earth, to anyone or anything living on it, or to astronauts or satellites in space,” the agency said. “But the event is an incredible and completely unprecedented opportunity to learn much more about Apophis and other similar near-Earth asteroids.”

According to NASA, people on the ground in the Eastern Hemisphere will be able to observe the asteroid with their own eyes, weather permitting.

It is extremely rare for an asteroid as large as Apophis to pass so close to Earth. NASA estimates that such events occur on average once every few thousand years. If this estimate is correct, then the 2029 asteroid flyby will be the first of its kind in history to be observed up close using modern technology.

Although Apophis will not endanger people on the ground during its passage, Earth’s gravitational pull during the close encounter could potentially “stretch” and “squeeze” the asteroid, possibly triggering small landslides or other similar movements on its surface, NASA said.

How the asteroid reacts will help scientists better understand Apophis and its composition. NASA scientists believe it is made from leftover cosmic materials from the early solar system that were never part of any planet or moon.

Its average diameter – a standardized measurement of the distance from one side of the rock to the other – is 1,115 feet, or about the size of three football fields. The distance between the asteroid’s two farthest points is a bit longer, 1,480 feet or more, NASA said. Its shape is not known, but observations suggest it may resemble a peanut.

Apophis was first discovered on June 19, 2004 by astronomers Roy Tucker, David Tholen and Fabrizio Bernardi at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. Another group of astronomers sighted the asteroid again, later the same year, at an observatory in Australia.