15.04.2026
The close pass of Apophis is nothing to fear. In fact, it’s not too early to think about where to be on Friday, April 13, 2029, to watch this asteroid glide across the sky.
Most stargazers have never seen an asteroid without optical aid. If achieving that feat is on your astronomical bucket list, mark Friday, April 13, 2029, on your calendar. That night, near-Earth asteroid 99942 Apophis will sail past our planet, briefly dipping inside the belt of geosynchronous satellites that hover 22,200 miles (35,800 km) above the equator. The 340-meter (1,100-foot) space rock will brighten to magnitude 3.1, comparable to Albireo, the star that marks the beak of Cygnus, the Swan.
For a point of comparison, consider the brightest asteroid in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter, 4 Vesta. At its next opposition in October 2026, Vesta will likely get no brighter than magnitude 6.4. To see such a faint point of light directly, you need exceptional eyesight and truly dark, clear, and transparent skies. By contrast, at the climax of its 2029 flyby, Apophis should be readily visible to unaided eyes, even from moderately light-polluted areas.
Those of us in the Americas, however, will have to travel if we want to eyeball Apophis, because the flyby occurs at night over Europe, Africa, and western Asia. To determine the optimal locations from which to view Apophis, I contacted Michael Zeiler, the astro-cartographer behind EclipseAtlas.com, and Ernie Wright of the Scientific Visualization Studio at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Between the asteroid’s orbit data on the NASA/JPL Horizons System, Ernie’s facility with NASA’s SPICE observation-geometry software, and Michael’s cartographic skills, I knew we could create attractive maps depicting where on Earth Apophis will be best seen during its historic visit.
These Earth globes show where Apophis will be visible at key moments on April 13, 2029.
Michael Zeiler
The maps above offer a preview of our results. They show the asteroid’s altitude above the horizon at the times of its peak brightness and closest approach. These events don’t coincide because Apophis’s illuminated side turns away from Earth as the flyby progresses. From our perspective, Apophis will slowly glide westward through the constellations, from Leo through Cancer toward Gemini, during this period. It’ll be moving about 25 arcminutes per hour when brightest and about 40 arcmin/hour when closest. For reference, the Moon appears about 30 arcmin across (though it’s new that night, so moonlight won’t interfere with the flyby).
Apophis’s apparent width will be 1.5 arcseconds at peak brightness and 1.8 arcsec at closest approach, about three-quarters the apparent diameter of Neptune at opposition. Large telescopes at mountaintop observatories in South Africa and the Canary Islands will have unique opportunities to spatially resolve the asteroid and watch for any potential changes caused by Earth’s tidal forces on the body.
As when planning where to go to see a total solar eclipse, it’s important to consider the weather prospects. As the accompanying map from meteorologist and eclipse-chaser Jay Anderson shows, northern and southern Africa, parts of the Middle East, and parts of West Asia generally have clear nights in April. While the map makes the Canary Islands (off the northwest coast of Africa) look iffy, the observatories atop Tenerife and La Palma sit above an inversion layer that keeps them clear even when the islands’ lower elevations are cloudy. Sadly, Europe has a low likelihood of clear night skies in April.
Upon its discovery in 2004, Apophis looked quite threatening (S&T: November 2006, page 28), but it’s now clear that there’s no chance the asteroid will collide with Earth any time in the next 100 years (S&T: November 2021, page 11). Ordinarily a 3rd-magnitude asteroid would be very bad news, but in this case, it’s no cause for alarm — just a rare chance to cross another celestial observation off your bucket list!
Russia plans to send probe to approaching asteroid Apophis
The Skobeltsyn Research Institute of Nuclear Physics at Lomonosov Moscow State University is formulating a pioneering mission plan to explore the large asteroid Apophis, which is expected to make a close approach to Earth in spring 2029, Eduard Boos, the institute's director, has told TASS.
"Over the next few years, we anticipate a remarkable event: the sizable asteroid Apophis will pass near Earth in 2029, coming within just 32,000 kilometers - closer than some geostationary satellites, which orbit at approximately 40,000 kilometers," Boos explained. "We are developing a mission concept to reach it by 2029, utilizing our CubeSats or small spacecraft. The objective is to fly nearby, conduct detailed inspections, and study the asteroid in situ."
Discovered in 2004 at Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona, Apophis is an elongated celestial body approximately 400 by 250 meters in size. Named after the ancient Egyptian serpent deity associated with destruction, the asteroid's orbit brings it alternately closer to and farther from Earth. Scientists also predict potential close encounters in 2036 and 2068, emphasizing the importance of early and detailed reconnaissance.
Quelle: TASS