Large asteroid path recalculated
October 17th 2009 11:48
Recent updated data, from NASA scientists have recalculated the path of a large asteroid named Apophis.
Apophis was discovered in 2004 and posed a real threat that it could collide with Earth around 2036.
However The refined path indicates a significantly reduced likelihood of a hazardous encounter with us.
Still we are not out of the woods the possibility of Earth being stuck by a large meteor fragment or a car sized object is quite high.
Apophis is expected to make a close approach to Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029, when it comes no closer than 18,300 miles above Earth's surface.
The Apophis asteroid is approximately the size of two-and-a-half football fields. Near-Earth object scientists Steve Chesley and Paul Chodas at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, documented the new data.
The majority of the data that resulted in an updated orbit of Apophis came from observations conducted at the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy.
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