For eight years now, scientists have been observing a celestial body that is rapidly moving in the direction of the Earth. It was first discovered from the Kitt Peak Observatory (Arizona) by astronomers David Jay Tolen, Roy Hey Tucker, and Fabrizio Bernardi. The asteroid was assigned the code "2004MN4". Soon, using preliminary calculations, it was found out that it has a radius of 320 meters, and on April 13, 2029 it will collide with the Earth and bring with it a deadly cataclysm. Therefore, a year after its discovery, in 2005, the meteorite was given the menacing name of the ancient god - Apophis.
According to the calculations of astronomers, the probability of its collision with our planet is 3 to 100. As you know, this is a fairly small ratio. However, in the entire history of astronomy there has not been such a celestial body that would have such a possibility of collision with the Earth as the asteroid Apophis. But opinions were divided, and some astronomers believe otherwise.
Like any asteroid, Apophis moves around the Sun. It takes 323 days to fly around the orbit. The speed is 37, 000 km / h. Weight - 50 million tons. The radius is 320 m. Asteroid Apophis, whose photo has already been submitted by NASA, has a surface dotted with a fall of small meteorites.
In the age of computer technology, the accuracy of astronomical calculations has been brought almost to the ideal, and scientists have figured out everything, right down to the point where the asteroid Apophis will fall. 2012, however, brought a lot of controversy to these very forecasts. Some scientists claimed that it will collide with the Earth in 2029 in the west of North America, while others - that in 2068 and on the territory of the Russian Federation.
But no matter how the scientists argue, one thing is certain. If the asteroid Apophis falls to Earth, then this will become a worldwide catastrophe. The death of civilization in a certain territory is guaranteed. And even the end of all mankind is possible. The force of detonation in the event of a collision will be similar to the explosion of all the nuclear weapons that exist on our planet today.
Throughout the history of mankind, especially in the 20-21 centuries, the end of the world was predicted many times. And each time the prophecies turned out to be unjustified, but only only caused panic among the population. According to some people, the asteroid Apophis is another vain panic. Astronomers, inclined to statistics, believe that this celestial body can in no way collide with the Earth, since quite recently (by cosmic standards), almost a century ago, our planet was subjected to the strongest blow of the Tunguska meteorite, which brought its power to Siberia. In those days, severe disasters were observed: the so-called "nuclear winter", radiation and some climate changes. According to "statisticians", such disasters cannot occur so often. And the next similar collision awaits the Earth no earlier than a dozen centuries later.
And, agreeing with this, in 2013, NASA astronomers refuted the initially announced probability of a collision between Apophis and the Earth, reducing it to 1 in 250, 000. The figure is much more joyful.
But no matter how the scholars argue, and no matter how comforting they put forward calculations and theories, the human mind will always think and expect something terrible from a potential threat, and panic. Remember that you can sincerely believe in the near end of the world, but the probability has been and remains negligible.
