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asteroid 99942 apus is a near Earth object Neel estimated to be about 1,100 ft 335 M across when it was discovered in 2004 apus was identified as one of the most hazardous asteroids that could impact Earth but that impact assessment changed after astronomer's tracked apus and its orbit became better determined a radar observation campaign in March 2021 combined with precise orbit analysis allowed astronomers to conclude that there is no risk of apys impacting our planet for at least a century apus quickly gained notoriety as an asteroid that could pose a serious threat to earth when astronomers predicted that it would come uncomfortably close in 2029 thanks to additional observations about app this the risk of an impact in 2029 was later ruled out as was the potential impact risk posed by another close approach in 2036 until March 2021 however a small chance of impact in 2068 still remained when apus made a distant flyby of Earth around March 5th 2021 astronomers took the opportunity to use powerful radar observations to refine the estimate of its orbit around the sun with extreme Precision enabling them to confidently rule out any impact risk in 2068 and long after a 2068 impact is not in the realm of possibility anymore and our calculations don't show any impact risk for for at least the next 100 years said wday fario NASA Center for near Earth object studies Coss which is managed by NASA's jet propulsion laboratory in Southern California with the support of recent Optical observations and additional radar observations the uncertainty in apus orbit has collapsed from hundreds of kilom to just a handful of kilom when projected in 2029 this greatly improved knowledge of its position in 2029 provides more certainty of its future motion so we can now remove apus from the risk list Faria was referring to the Sentry impact risk table maintained by cnos the table keeps tabs on the few asteroids whose orbits take them so close to Earth that an impact can't be rul out with the recent findings the risk table no longer includes apice relying on optical telescopes and groundbased radar to help characterize every known neear object's orbit to improve long-term Hazard assessments cnos computes High Precision orbits in support of NASA's planetary defense coordination office to arrive at the apys calculations in 20121 astronomers used a 70 M 230 ft radio antenna at the deep space Network's gold stone deep space Communications complex near barow California to precisely track apus motion although apus made a recent close approach with Earth it was still nearly 10.6 million M 17 million km away even so we were able to acquire incredibly precise information about its distance to an accuracy of about 150 M 490 ft said JPL scientist Marina BRZ who led the radar campaign this campaign not only helped us rule out any impact risk it set us up for a wonderful science opportunity Goldstone also worked in a collaboration with the 100 m 330 ft Green Bank telescope in West Virginia in order to enable Imaging of this gold stone was transmitting while Green Bank was receiving a bistatic experiment that doubled the strength of the received signal the radar team continues to analyze its data and they expect to learn more about the asteroid shape previous radar observations have suggested that apus has a bow or peanut like appearance this is a relatively common shape among near Earth asteroids larger than 660 ft 200 m in diameter at least one in six have two lows astronomers are also working to develop a better understanding of the asteroids rotation rate and the axis it spins around known as its spin state that knowledge will enable them to determine the orientation the asteroid will have with Earth as it encounters our planet's gravitational field in 2029 which could change that spin State and even cause asteroid Quakes on April 13th 2029 Abus will pass less than 20,000 Mi 32 2,000 km from our planet surface closer than a distance of geosynchronous satellites during that 2029 close approach apice will be visible to observers on the ground in the Eastern hemisphere without the aid of a telescope or binoculars it's also an unprecedented opportunity for astronomers to get a closeup view of a solar system Relic that is now just a scientific curiosity and not an immediate Hazard to our planet apus was discovered on June 19th 20 4 by astronomers Roy Tucker David thand and Fabrizio Bernardi at the kit Peak National observatory in Tucson Arizona they were only able to observe the asteroid for 2 days because of Technical and weather problems fortunately a team at the sing spring observatory in Australia spotted the asteroid again later in the same year since its Discovery Optical and radar telescopes have tracked apus as it orbits the Sun and scientists are confident they know its future trajectory NASA has redirected a space graft to study the asteroid after successfully completing its mission to gather a sample of asteroid benu in September 2023 Osiris RX Origins spectral interpretation resource identification and security regolith explorer was renamed Osiris Aus Explorer Osiris Apex the space graft was sent to study apus during the asteroids 2029 Earth flyby Osiris a will fly by apus on April 23rd 2029 at a distance of about 2,500 Mi 4,000 km it will then rendevu with apice in June for an 18-month campaign to map the asteroid surface and analyze its chemical makeup Osiris apex's cameras will begin taking images of the asteroid as the spacecraft catches up to it apice will also be closely observed by earth-based telescopes during this time but in the hours after the close encounter apus will appear too near the Sun in the sky to be observed by groundbased optical telescopes this means any changes triggered by the close encounter with Earth will be best detected by the spacecraft in addition to studying changes to apice caused by its Earth encounter the spacecraft will conduct many of the same investigations Osiris RX did at venue including using its instrument Suite of imagers spectrometers and a laser altimeter to closely map the surface and analyze its chemical makeup as an encore Osiris Apex will reprise one of Osiris Rex's most impressive acts dipping within 16 ft of the asteroid's surface and firing its thrusters downward this maneuver will stir up surface rocks and dust to give scientists A Peak at the material that lies below unlike venu the spacecraft will not collect a sample from apus apys is about 1,100 ft 340 m in width it's expected to safely pass close to Earth within 19794 Mi 31,8 160 km from our planet surface on April 13th 2029 this will be the closest approach to Earth by an asteroid of this size that scientists have known about in EVS at its farthest apys can reach a distance of about two astronomical units from Earth one astronomical unit abbreviated as Au is the distance from Sun to Earth the orbit of apys crosses the orbit of Earth it completes an orbit around the Sun in a little less than one Earth year about 0.9 years this places it in the group of Earth Crossing asteroids known as aens those with orbits smaller in width and the width of Earth's orbit or one Australian dollar as a result of its close encounter with Earth in 2029 the asteroids orbit will be widened to become slightly larger than the width of Earth's or at this point it will be reclassified from the aen group to the Apollo group the group of Earth Crossing asteroids with orbits wider than one Australian dollar the asteroid wobbles as it spins about its short axis typically rotating about once every 30 hours sometimes there is also a rocking motion back and forth about its long axis as well which occurs over a longer period than the short axis W the technical term for this rocking motion is non-principal Axis rotation apys is is classified as an S type or Stony type asteroid made up of silicate or rocky materials and a mixture of metallic nickel and iron radar images suggest it is elongated and possibly has two loes making it look something like a pan much more will be learned about this asteroid structure following its close flyby of Earth in 2029 like all asteroids apys is a Remnant from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago it originated in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter over millions of years its orbit was changed primarily by the gravitational influence of large planets like Jupiter so that it now orbits the Sun closer to Earth as a result apys is classified as a near Earth asteroid as opposed to a main belt asteroid there are no highresolution images of the surface of asteroid apice but it is likely similar to surfaces of other Stony type asteroids like itacua the first asteroid from which samples were captured and brought to Earth for analysis apus is named for the demon serpent who personified evil and Chaos in ancient Egyptian mythology [Music]