2029: The Asteroid Apophis

Apophis_pathOn April 13, 2029 the Earth will have a close encounter of the asteroidal kind.

The asteroid in question was initially thought to have a possibility of hitting the Earth or the Moon (a.k.a. "Luna" for those who have never lived there).

However, further observations reveal that it won’t hit either body but will snake its way between them (see image on left).

There is, however, a 1 in 5560 chance that the asteroid will smack into us exactly 17 years later, on April 13, 2036.

When it swings by in 2029 the asteroid will be big enough to see with the naked eye. If it hits in 2036 it’ll look even bigger.

The asteroid was discovered by a group of astronomers reportedly including fans of the show Stargate SG-1, which may have affected the name they gave to the asteroid: . . . Apophis.

But if these guys are really fans of Stargate, shouldn’t Asteroid Apophis instead be named Asteroid Anubis?

MORE ON ASTEROID APOPHIS.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

23 thoughts on “2029: The Asteroid Apophis”

  7. Of course, this will make things even more nuts around St. Blogs if Cardinal Schönborn is elected Pope Benedict’s successor (hopefully not for another five or ten years at least). First, he could reasonably still be alive in 2036 (at the age of 91) and second, his full name is/would have been Christoph Maria Michael Hugo Damian Peter Adalbert von Schönborn (according to Wikipedia).

  8. Penally, smentality… I’m cashing in my IRA…*
    *shamelessly ripped off from an old Bloom County cartoon 🙂

  9. You know, if this asteroid loses enough momentum as it passes the planet, it might just get caught by the Earth’s gravity and fall into an orbit, or perhaps it’ll slow enough to park in one of the Lagrange points (assuming it isn’t too massive). Farfetched, perhaps, but it’d be pretty cool. 😉

  10. You know, if this asteroid loses enough momentum as it passes the planet, it might just get caught by the Earth’s gravity and fall into an orbit, or perhaps it’ll slow enough to park in one of the Lagrange points (assuming it isn’t too massive). Farfetched, perhaps, but it’d be pretty cool. 😉
    Especially if it’s made of solid naquadah. Just think of the orbital asteroid mining potential!

  11. Whoop! Good call Billy!
    However, my eye is on 2029, when Easter Sunday falls on April 1st.
    Wouldn’t it just be so perfect for Armegeddon Day to fall on April Fools.

  12. What we should do is get ourselves some oil drillers and fly them out to land on the astroid with a big nuclear bomb they can drop in the middle of the thing after drilling a hole in it. 😉

  15. You do -not- want to detonate an atomic bomb in the middle of an asteroid made of naquada.
    😉
    So, shold it be renamed Wormwood?

  16. You do -not- want to detonate an atomic bomb in the middle of an asteroid made of naquada.
    So, maybe the world will end on Good Friday 2036 after all when astronauts, blissfully ignorant of the asteroid’s true composition, plant a tactical nuke in a last-ditch effort to save the world. The nuke goes off causing a chain reaction in the naquadah and the entire planet is burned to smithereens.

  17. And then how long after it passes between the Earth and the Moon will Thundarr the Barbarian be born?

  18. “Wouldn’t it just be so perfect for Armegeddon Day to fall on April Fools.”
    Awww man! My birthday is on April 1st too! But cool, my birthday is on Easter! yay! hmm, how old will I be? 2029? 47 years old! darn.

  20. it seems we should ask the asgard for asstance and use their beaming ray and send Apophis to the Ori home planet thats what i think we should do

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