Armageddon Date, April 13, 2036, Asteroid 99942 Apophis May Hit Earth Say Russian Scientists

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Asteroid Apophis - we know when it will hit, say Russian scientists. If it hits...

By Peter Farquhar, Technology Editor

From: news.com.au

February 10, 2011

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GOT your bucket list ready? The date for Armageddon has been set, and it's not going to happen in 2012.
That's according to Russian scientists who claim they know the exact day asteroid Apophis is most likely to hit the Earth.
If you were born on April 13, plan your biggest party for the year 2036.
"Apophis will approach Earth at a distance of 37,000-38,000 kilometers on April 13, 2029," Professor Leonid Sokolov of the St. Petersburg State University told Ria Novosti.
"Its likely collision with Earth may occur on April 13, 2036."
You might have noticed he used the word "may".
Asteroid 99942 Apophis was first discovered to be in the Earth's impact zone back in 2004, and at roughly 300m wide, is estimated to be able to hit the Earth with the force equivalent to somewhere around two Krakatoas.

More sketchy science puts Australia well out of the path of possible destruction - Apophis could land anywhere in a streak that runs from the Middle East through the tip of South America to the west coast of Africa, according to a paper delivered to the 2007 Planetary Defense Conference.
Which is not to say we won't feel its impact. A simulation tool devised by the University of Southampton in the UK shows that, depending on where it hits, it could cause up to 10 million deaths.
There's several reasons not to panic, though.
One is the fact that it will probably break up and smaller bits of it will bombard the Earth over the next few years.
The other is that we've got a bit of warning.
In 2029, when it swings close by the Earth, we'll find out whether Apophis has nailed a gravitational keyhole that will drag it into our orbit seven years later.
The gap is just 600m wide, so there's a fair chance it won't happen.
"If it goes through what we call a keyhole during that close Earth approach (in 2029) ... then it will indeed be perturbed just right so that it will come back and smack Earth on April 13, 2036," Donald Yeomans, head of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office, told The Christian Science Monitor, before adding that the chance was "minuscule".
But that slight chance it will happen - at one stage predicted to be somewhere in the two to three per cent range - is enough to get at least the Russians working on a solution.

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 02/ 9/2011

Doomsday Apophis asteroid? Could the Earth be on a collision course?

By Melissa Bell

washingtonpost.com

A new report from Russia seems to indicate that the Mayans were off by just 24 years. According to Russian scientists, in the year 2036, the Apophis asteroid and the Earth may have a date to meet.
The report came from UPI, saying that Leonid Sokolov of St. Petersburg State University estimated the asteroid will hit the planet on April 13, 2036. The asteroid has made headlines before as scientists have been keeping a wary eye on the rock two football fields in size hurtling through space since its discovery in 2004.
But, much like the Zodiac panic of 2011, the asteroid news may be creating a ruckus for nothing. NASA says the likelihood of a collision is only 1-in-250,000.

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