Scientists at the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Hawaii in the United States have discovered dangerous changes in the speed of the asteroid Apophis that could affect the probability of a celestial body colliding with Earth 48 years later.
According to RIA Novosti, this was reported on the university's website. The acceleration is explained by the fact that the celestial body receives a weak reactive impulse due to heat radiation on the surface, which is heated during the day and cooled at night. During observations of the asteroid, researchers found that Apofis deviated from its orbit by 170 meters per year due to the "Yarkovsky effect". This magnitude is enough to make it impossible to accurately predict the trajectory of the asteroid in 2068. Apophis is quite close to the world. On April 13, 2029, it will be possible to see the celestial body with the naked eye: the asteroid will pass through a communications satellite in Earth orbit at a distance of 37,000 kilometers (about 10 times from the Moon), but will not pose a threat to Earth at this time. Further observations should help determine the likelihood of a collision in the second half of the 21st century