Posted by Deborah Byrd in Human World | Space |
April 26, 2021
Follow the action as asteroid scientists, space agencies and civil protection organizations participate in a drill – simulating an asteroid impact about to happen – during this week’s virtual Planetary Defense Conference.
Fictional “potential impact hemisphere” of make-believe asteroid, 2021 PDC, via ESA/ CNEOS.
ESA said on April 26, 2021 that it will be live tweeting the asteroid impact exercise being discussed at this week’s Planetary Defense Conference, which is held virtually April 26 through 30. It looks as if NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office (@AsteroidWatch) will also be following the action, and no doubt many others will be as well. This is the 7th of these conferences, which are held every two years, and it’s the second time ESA has live tweeted the conference’s primary exercise – a drill, if you will, simulating an asteroid impact about to happen – as it is unfol
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How do we know if an asteroid headed our way is dangerous?In our solar system there are millions of space rocks known as asteroids. Ranging in size from a few metres to hundreds of kilometres, these objects are mostly left over from the formation of our planets 4.6 billion years ago. They are building blocks that didn’t quite make it into fully fledged worlds.
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A HUGE asteroid is flying past Earth tomorrow and will closer approach in eight years. Asteroid 99942 Apophis will fly past Earth this Friday (March 5) giving astronomers an opportunity to study the body ahead of the asteroid s closer approach in 2029. During its 2021 pass Apophis - which is pronounced uh-pow-fuhs and measures 400 metres across - will comfortably skirt our planet at a safe distance of 10,471,577 miles. However, in April 2029 Apophis will literally shave Earth at a distance of just 23,441 miles - it will be visible to the naked-eye as it passes among the zone where high altitude satellites are present. As with a number of other asteroids, Apophis has been classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center.