O 99942 Apophis is an asteroid about 370 meters in diameter and will pass at a distance of only 32,000 kilometers away – much less than the 385,000 kilometers that separate Earth from the Moon.
© ESA
04/08/2026
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Um new study published in the scientific journal The Planetary Science Journal indicates that in 2029, more precisely in the month of April, an asteroid with a diameter of 370 meters will pass in the vicinity of our planet.
The asteroid in question is 99942 Apophis and, according to the estimates of the researchers, it can pass through the Earth less than 32,000 kilometres away – less than the distance of 385,000 kilometers between our planet and the Moon.
As for potential dangers to life on Earth, researchers ensure that there is a reduced probability that Apophis represents any kind of risk. On the other hand, those responsible for this study fear that the large amount of space trash may interfere with the opportunity to study this asteroid in detail.
Researchers plan to closely observe the passage across our planet from Apophis using the RAMSES satellites (from the European Space Agency) and also the OSIRIS-APEX (from NASA), with the observation that might be impaired if the asteroid comes to encounter debris near the Earth.
“ I have to say I was hoping there would be no interactions [between the asteroid and space debris].”, explained to the science Alert website one of the investigators, Alessandro Rossi. “I was surprised that some objects could approach less than a few kilometres from the asteroid”.
Rossi notes, however, that “any impact on the asteroid will not significantly alter its orbit”, but stresses that the consequences of a clash with any object could result “in the formation of a small crater and a plume of ejected material”.
In addition to pointing to the passage of an asteroid in the vicinity of the Earth, the study in question aims to alert to the great amount of space garbage in the orbit of our planet whose quantity seems uncertain at the moment.