Space & Astronomy

Asteroid Apophis set for 'very rare' close encounter with Earth in 2029

By T.K. Randall
April 17, 2026

Image: AI-generated (Midjourney) Named ominously after the Egyptian god of chaos, Apophis measures 340 meters across and was first spotted by astronomers at the Kitt Peak National Observatory, Arizona in June 2004.

What made it particularly concerning at the time was the fact that it seemed to have a 2.7% chance of striking the Earth in 2029, making it the most dangerous space rock that we actually knew about.

Fortunately, later observations saw the odds of a collision reduced to 1 in 100,000.

But that wasn't the end of the story, because as it turns out, Apophis will pass around 20,000 miles from the Earth's surface, providing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for astronomers to observe it.

It is in fact extremely rare for such a large asteroid to pass this close to us."It's likely that an event like this has not happened at any time in recorded human history," NASA wrote.

"Without a doubt this is the first time it's happened when humans have had the technology to observe it."

Apophis has been a subject of great interest for years due to its potential risk of hitting the Earth.

While it did at one point score a 4 on the Torino scale (which rates objects based on impact risk) - the highest any object has ever ranked - it was later downgraded to 0 following additional observations.

NASA now maintains that there is absolutely no risk posed by this object for at least the next 100 years.

Source: Sky News

Tags: Asteroid