APOPHIS PRE-ANNIVERSARY

[Demeter]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99942_Apophis

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/apophis/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroid_deflection_strategies

http://spaceweather.com/ April 13, 2009


Twenty years from today, on April 13th, 2029, asteroid Apophis will buzz Earth only 18,300 miles above the planet's surface--well inside the belt of geosynchronous communications satellites. At closest approach, the 300-meter-wide asteroid will shine like a 3rd magnitude star, visible to the unaided eye from cities in Africa, Europe and Asia. There is a small chance (1 in 45,000) that the 2029 encounter will bend the asteroid's orbit so that it returns to Earth and actually hits the planet on April 13th, 2036. Experts believe that future observations will probably rule out a collision. Nevertheless, NASA and others are thinking about asteroid deflection strategies ... just in case.

[Posteritatis]

1. I started watching through Stargate: SG-1 recently and was thus confused by this headline (nt)

[laconicsax]

2. The team that named the asteroid were big fans of the show.

http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=3434

However, mythology may not have been the only consideration in naming Apophis. Codiscoverers Dave Tholen and Roy Tucker are fans of the TV series Stargate SG-1. The show's most persistent villain is Apophis, an alien also named for the Egyptian god. "We considered a number of names, but 'Apophis' kept floating to the top," says Tucker.