Apophis
The object Apophis is not exactly a meteor, but an asteroid. The first studies showed that Apophis could impact the Earth in the year 2029, but further investigation by scientists have revealed that 2029 will be a time where they can predict if the near Earth asteroid will actually hit Earth in 2036. NASA has estimated the size of this asteroid at about 1,500 feet (450 meters) and the chance of it striking Earth at 1 in 45,000. Imagine a rock as long as the Empire State Building crashing into Earth, Apophis could detonate with an equivalent of up to 1,500 megatons of TNT or the same as detonating one hundred fifteen thousand nuclear bombs similar to the ones dropped on Japan during World War II. The devastation of this asteroid hitting Earth would be based on the trajectory and location of where it struck Earth.
During March of 2009 you won’t really have to worry about many meteors from the Gamma Normids thumping Earth. This meteor shower has low activity and is expected to peak on March 13th. The next meteor shower, the Lyrids of April may be a little bit better. As far as the “2029 Earth Ending Meteor”, Apophis, well firstly it is an asteroid, secondly it is only 2009 and lastly we have a few years to determine what to do if it really did have a greater chance to collide with Earth.
I suggest getting out there and enjoying some of the great less threatening meteor showers and enjoy life’s simple pleasures. I should also mention that your home owner’s insurance policy may or may not cover meteor strikes, time for a look!
on Mar 9th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Hello All,
I had an interesting comment from an offended reader of this post.
Because there is very little meteor activity right now I decided to talk about Apophis, I knew when I wrote it that a discussion of the “end of the world” could ensue.
The whole point of this post was to tell you that Apophis is an asteroid, not a meteor. This post contains very basic, relatively accurate, non-threatening or life changing information that is available all over the internet.
Please bookmark the site and check back with us for meteor showers.
And to the person who got upset, there are better ways to promote your cause then insulting people.
Keep your head up!
- Meteor Mark