(ORDO NEWS) — Asteroid Apophis is considered the most dangerous space stone in the solar system. Astronomers were able to photograph him at the moment when he was approaching our planet.
Experts said that next month Apophis will fly from Earth at a distance of about 15 million kilometers.
This distance is considered close, so astronomers can easily see it through telescopes. At the same time, this distance is not enough for the asteroid to be affected by gravitational attraction.
The image of the asteroid was obtained by astronomers who take part in the Virtual Telescope project. With the help of a telescope, it was possible to track in which direction the asteroid was moving.
The celestial body will fly even closer to our planet only in 2029. Most of the specialists today are worried about an event that may occur in 2068.
The probability of collision in this case is quite high and amounts to 1 in 500 thousand. If an asteroid with a weight of 27 billion kilograms crashes into our planet, it will leave a crater 518 meters deep, and its width will be one and a half kilometers.
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