Encounter Circumstances of Asteroid 99942 Apophis with the Catalog of Known Asteroids
Asteroid 99942 Apophis will pass near Earth in 2029 April. Expected to miss our planet by a safe margin, that could change if Apophis's path were perturbed by a collision with another asteroid in the interim. Though the statistical chance of such a collision is minuscule, the high risk associat...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2024-01-01
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| Series: | The Planetary Science Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ad2de2 |
| _version_ | 1797242562845605888 |
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| author | Paul Wiegert Benjamin Hyatt |
| author_facet | Paul Wiegert Benjamin Hyatt |
| author_sort | Paul Wiegert |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Asteroid 99942 Apophis will pass near Earth in 2029 April. Expected to miss our planet by a safe margin, that could change if Apophis's path were perturbed by a collision with another asteroid in the interim. Though the statistical chance of such a collision is minuscule, the high risk associated with Apophis motivates us to examine even this very unlikely scenario. In this work, we identify encounters between known asteroids and Apophis up to 2029 April. Here we show that Apophis will encounter the 1300 m diameter asteroid 4544 Xanthus in 2026 December. Their minimum orbit intersection distance is less than 10,000 km, with Apophis passing that closest point just 4 hr before Xanthus. Though a direct collision is ruled out, the encounter is close enough that material accompanying Xanthus (if any) could strike Apophis. We also identify other asteroid encounters that deserve monitoring. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:41:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9f4520aa62194c0cb1cdfbf277fcc0e7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2632-3338 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T18:41:12Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Planetary Science Journal |
| spelling | doaj.art-9f4520aa62194c0cb1cdfbf277fcc0e72024-03-27T12:33:44ZengIOP PublishingThe Planetary Science Journal2632-33382024-01-01538110.3847/PSJ/ad2de2Encounter Circumstances of Asteroid 99942 Apophis with the Catalog of Known AsteroidsPaul Wiegert0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1914-5352Benjamin Hyatt1Department of Physics and Astronomy The University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada; Institute for Earth and Space Exploration The University of Western Ontario London, ON N6A 3K7, CanadaDepartment of Physics and Astronomy University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, CanadaAsteroid 99942 Apophis will pass near Earth in 2029 April. Expected to miss our planet by a safe margin, that could change if Apophis's path were perturbed by a collision with another asteroid in the interim. Though the statistical chance of such a collision is minuscule, the high risk associated with Apophis motivates us to examine even this very unlikely scenario. In this work, we identify encounters between known asteroids and Apophis up to 2029 April. Here we show that Apophis will encounter the 1300 m diameter asteroid 4544 Xanthus in 2026 December. Their minimum orbit intersection distance is less than 10,000 km, with Apophis passing that closest point just 4 hr before Xanthus. Though a direct collision is ruled out, the encounter is close enough that material accompanying Xanthus (if any) could strike Apophis. We also identify other asteroid encounters that deserve monitoring.https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ad2de2Asteroid dynamicsNear-Earth objects |
| spellingShingle | Paul Wiegert Benjamin Hyatt Encounter Circumstances of Asteroid 99942 Apophis with the Catalog of Known Asteroids The Planetary Science Journal Asteroid dynamics Near-Earth objects |
| title | Encounter Circumstances of Asteroid 99942 Apophis with the Catalog of Known Asteroids |
| title_full | Encounter Circumstances of Asteroid 99942 Apophis with the Catalog of Known Asteroids |
| title_fullStr | Encounter Circumstances of Asteroid 99942 Apophis with the Catalog of Known Asteroids |
| title_full_unstemmed | Encounter Circumstances of Asteroid 99942 Apophis with the Catalog of Known Asteroids |
| title_short | Encounter Circumstances of Asteroid 99942 Apophis with the Catalog of Known Asteroids |
| title_sort | encounter circumstances of asteroid 99942 apophis with the catalog of known asteroids |
| topic | Asteroid dynamics Near-Earth objects |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ad2de2 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT paulwiegert encountercircumstancesofasteroid99942apophiswiththecatalogofknownasteroids AT benjaminhyatt encountercircumstancesofasteroid99942apophiswiththecatalogofknownasteroids |