Astronomers Gear Up for Historic Asteroid Pass in 2029

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Astronomers Gear Up for Historic Asteroid Pass in 2029
By Ker Than
Staff Writer

During the early morning hours of April 13, 2029, observers in Asia and North Africa will have a chance to witness a rare celestial event as an asteroid, 99942 Apophis, passes within 20,000 miles of Earth.

"It's not gonna knock your socks off, and it certainly won't be the brightest object in the sky, but it'll be easily observable with the naked eye," said Don Yeomans, manager of NASA's Near Earth Object (NEO) Program.

The approach of an asteroid this large -- Apophis is more than 1,000 feet in diameter -- and this close to Earth occurs only about once every 1,500 years.

Scientists are awaiting the close flyby with mixed emotions: excitement at a unique scientific opportunity and uneasiness that it might be a sign of more ominous things to come.

http://space.com/scienceastronomy/050822_asteroid_apophis.html

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1. Scary.

I don't care what they say. I don't like it when big rocks other than the moon get close to Earth. When it gets closer they should launch a probe or something to nudge it so it crashes into the sun or another planet. That would be a great opportunity to see an impact. I would be interested in seeing an impact on Venus, Mars, or the Sun.