An asteroid once thought to pose a threat to Earth may be visible to the naked eye for up to two billion people when it safely whizzes past our planet in 2029.
"Apophis is a large, 340-meter asteroid that will pass safely past the Earth closer than geosynchronous satellites on April 13, 2029, which happens to be a Friday, because nature has a sense of humor," said Richard Binzel, a professor of planetary sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in a keynote lecture at the EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2025 in Helsinki on Sept. 8.
