Possible Asteroid Collision with The Earth on April Friday 13th, 2036

99942 Apophis is an asteroid with an orbit slightly offset to that of the Earth. It was discovered by Roy Tucker, David Tholen, and Fabrizio Bernardi on June 19, 2004. The most closely estimated length based on spectroscopic observations at NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility in Hawaii by Binzel, Rivkin, Bus, and Tokunaga in 2005 indicate it is about 350 meters long.
After the Minor Planet Center confirmed the June discovery of Apophis, an April 13, 2029 close approach was flagged by the NASA’s automatic Sentry system. On that date, the Asteroid will be visible to the naked eye from rural and some darker suburban areas, and visible with binoculars from most locations. This close approach will be visible from some regions of Europe, Africa and western Asia.
In 2004, it was first thought that the asteroid would hit us in the first flyby in 2029, and the chances of impact were estimated in 1/37. Additional observations through 2006 resulted in Apophis’ chances of collision being lowered on August 6, 2006 to 1 in 45,000. Note that it is actually the closest probability of an asteroid collision with the Earth. It is currently estimated that in April 13th, 2029 the approach of the asteroid will change because of its closeness to the gravitational pull of the Earth, and after this happens it will be determined if the asteroid will or will not collide with the Earth 7 years later.
Right now the probability of Apophis passing through Earth’s orbit is 1 in 48,000. Many would think this as very unlikely, but consider that the chances of someone dying in an airplane crash are 1 in 354,319.
But don’t give up hope yet, in the early 2010’s the asteroid will be close enough to us that optical and radar observations can be made accurately enough to make a better estimate of its orbit and probability of collision.
NASA estimates the energy from this particular asteroid to be 880 megatons, which are equivalent to if 65,000 nuclear bombs were dropped on us. Although its size is not really big, its orbital speed is about 30,278 kilometers per second, which would cause massive damage to our planet. The damage it would cause to Earth depends completely on where it would hit. If it hits on the water, it would cause a massive tidal wave, but the water would absorb most of the energy. Speculations that a period of extended cold weather brought on by dust and particles shrouding the Earth and blocking the Sun by the hit of the asteroid are very unlikely. Deflection missions are still being developed just in case the asteroid happens to cross orbit with Earth.