Will an asteroid with a diameter of 400 meters approach the earth threaten mankind?

According to reports, the Russian Federation recently issued an emergency prediction, stating that an asteroid is flying towards the Earth and will "collide" with the Earth on April 13, 2029. "Passed by", and when it was at perigee, the distance between this asteroid and the Earth was only 38,400 kilometers.

What is this concept? We all know that the closest celestial body to us around the earth is the moon. In terms of distance, the distance between the earth and the moon is about 380,000 kilometers. When "Apophis" reaches perigee, it is far from the earth. The distance between them is only one-tenth of the distance between the earth and the moon.

Moreover, it is infinitely close to the altitude of the geostationary satellite orbit, which also means that in space, where accidents may occur at any time, in fact, it does not rule out that "Apophis" will not hit it. Earth.

For astronomers and many astronomy enthusiasts, this asteroid is a very familiar "old friend" because it is the famous "destroying star"-Apophis (little planet) Planet number 99942).

This asteroid was first discovered in 2004, and once it was discovered, it became one of the asteroids that poses the greatest threat to the earth. In 2013, astronomers said , through observational analysis, "Apophis" may hit the earth in 2036, but this possibility was later ruled out.

At present, the most likely time of impact with the Earth is April 13, 2029, predicted by Russia. The probability of impact is about 2.7%. It can be said that this probability is no longer high. Considered low.

In terms of diameter, the diameter of "Apophis" is about 400 meters and its weight is about 30 tons. What is this concept? The asteroid that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago was about 10 kilometers in diameter. Calculated, "Apophis" was about one-twenty-fifth of the diameter of that asteroid.

Although it is not as big as we imagined, if "Apophis" hits the earth head-on, it will still bring great disaster. At least according to the current situation, the impact will The power produced is about 30 times more than the explosion power of the former Soviet Union's nuclear bomb.

According to current predictions, if the asteroid "Apophis" really hits the Earth in 2029, the most likely impact location will be in the Eastern Hemisphere.

You must know that most of the Asian continent, European continent, African continent, Oceania, eastern Antarctica, northeastern North America and other places are located in the Eastern Hemisphere.

This also means that if the asteroid "Apophis" falls in a densely populated area, judging from the power of the explosion, even if human civilization will not perish as a result, it will be severely damaged. And even if it falls in the Indian Ocean or other sea areas in the Eastern Hemisphere, it is inevitable to cause large-scale tsunamis, earthquakes, etc. It has to be said that this is really a huge disaster for mankind.

However, this is only the worst result. After all, there are still more than 7 years to go until April 2029. Now, scientists have discovered the threat of "Apophis". Naturally, we will prepare in advance and will not let it hit the earth without warning.

Since the potential threat of "Apophis" was discovered in 2004, scientists have been planning related preventive work. For example, in 2007, American scientists thought that it might be possible to launch The spacecraft uses gravity to pull "Apophis" and let it change its original orbit so that it no longer poses a threat to the earth.

In addition, in 2011, some researchers also proposed that it might be possible to launch an artificial celestial body and let it hit "Apophis". In this way, under the action of force, the "Apophis" was pushed away.

It can be seen from these studies that, in fact, scientists have been thinking of ways to deal with it for many years. After all, the development of human science and technology today is different from the past. We can already Observe celestial objects that are potential threats to the earth, and then find ways to eliminate them in space.

Therefore, unless there is really a huge asteroid, at least as big as the asteroid that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, and it suddenly hits the earth without warning, otherwise humans will be killed because of the asteroid The probability of extinction by hitting the Earth is not high.

It is worth mentioning that there are far more asteroids that pose a threat to the earth than "Apophis". Ever since scientists began to study the asteroid belt, scientists have locked in on the asteroid belt for many years. There are thousands of "near-Earth asteroids", and there is no doubt that they may all "hit the earth".

Of course, due to their different sizes, many "near-Earth asteroids" will not have much impact even if they hit the earth, especially if they fall in the distant sea or in no man's land. , the harm will be even lower.

Also, in addition to the earth, other planets will also be attacked by asteroids. For example, even if we really leave the earth and immigrate to Mars in the future, because the asteroid belt itself is located between Mars and Between Jupiter, in fact, we still have a chance of being hit.

Therefore, believe in science, just take precautions and make early plans. There is no need to panic because "Apophis" may hit the earth in 2029. That's about it.