Today is

By: Ikedi Ani-okoye.

Asteroid discovery

In December of 2004, the very month many countries in the Indian Ocean were devastated by Tsunamis, a new Asteroid was discovered by scientists. Most asteroids receive a number and a letter and never make it beyond the fancy of a few scientists or astronomers. But this asteroid is now known as "Apophis." The name is from the ancient Egyptian god of Darkness and Evil. Not only does it have a catchy and foreboding name, it has also gained some recent notoriety, as you will read below.

Asteroids hiiting the earth

Science Fiction Authors have long sense written about a Comet, Asteroid or giant Meteorite hitting the Earth. Many Paleontologists believe such an event may have wiped out the Dinosaurs. Indeed, even Hollywood has used these genres in such blockbuster movies as Armageddon and Comet. Carl Sagan, Arthur C. Clarke, Ben Bova, Isaac Asimov along with others have written about the potential eventuality.

Close encounter with an Asteroid

Another potentially hazardous asteroid, 2004 VD17 will come close to Apophis on July 17th, 2034, only two years before Apophis encounters Earth. There is a slim possibility that this close encounter could change the orbit of one or both of the asteroids.

NASA and Asteroid problems

NASA has currently identified 912 known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids. The reason that these objects are a threat is that their orbits, although they are currently known and plotted, can change. An asteroid that passes close but poses no threat now can have it's orbit disturbed by any one of many factors and possibly pose a greater threat of impacting earth.

CONCLUSION

Well now there are rumors going around that a massive asteroid will pass by the Earth on certain days this could be very significant if these rumor are true. Yet who knows as we keep getting rumors of near Earth objects flying by our Planet and many turn out to be totally false.