An asteroid discovered in 2004 is going to come very close to earth, according to space scientists. The asteroid is called “Apophis” and the first link cites scientists estimating it will pass within 20,000 miles of earth and the second link estimates its distance will be 19,000 miles from earth at its closest approach to earth. The first link estimates its size as 350-450 meters across and the second link reports it as 1,500 feet across. That’s big but not an extinction level event if it hit earth.The second link has artwork depicting its size if it were inside New York City and adds it would impact with the force of “tens to hundreds of nuclear weapons” if it hit earth. The second link also reports that scientists originally calculated the asteroid had a 2.7% chance of hitting earth, but follow-up calculations drove the odds down to zero. The first link reports that Apophis will pass so close to the earth that it will pass between the earth and moon’s orbital path around the earth. It is predicted to pass closer to earth “than many geostationary satellites.” That’s close! Indeed, the first link claims it will pass closer than “any asteroid in human history.”
I do wonder if the authorities would lie to the public about even a small chance of its hitting earth if that were truly the case. I’ve seen too many Sci-fi movies to not ask that question. The first link addresses the effects of earth’s gravity on the asteroid as it approaches so close (astronomically speaking) to earth. The experts expect that earth’s gravity will cause some changes to the asteroid as it approaches earth. Earth’s gravity could “stretch and compress the body [of the asteroid]” and cause landslides on the asteroid and “changes in rotation” of the asteroid. It is also reported in the first link the asteroid’s “orbit will be slightly altered and its spin rate may shift” as it approaches earth. The first link calls this event a “one-in-millennium event.” It ought to present quite a spectacle to those who will see it pass overhead. The second link predicts the best view will be in Europe, Africa and Western Asia. It also says the asteroid will pass closest to earth on a date that will be a future “Friday the 13th.” Not that anyone should be superstitious, right?
I’ve got a relevant question. If the earth’s gravitational tug on the asteroid will be so great that it could change the orbit and rotation of the asteroid, and that earth’s gravity will “stretch and compress” it, how do we know that Apophis won’t split or splinter into smaller pieces as it approaches earth with the chance some pieces could hit the earth? We obviously haven’t visited this asteroid. How do we know whether its internal composition argues that it will hold together as it passes so close to the earth? Some military forces may have nuclear-tipped missiles aimed at Apophis as it approaches earth to fire at it if it begins to split apart. Hitting it with a nuke would guarantee that Apophis would be exploded into so many small pieces that the majority of them would likely disintegrate in the earth’s atmosphere. This may be a good defensive strategy if earth is approached by another asteroid in the future which is predicted to impact earth.
Biblical prophecy gives us good reason to be concerned. The Bible’s prophecies about the end of the age include Revelation 8:6-11 which foretells that earth will be struck not once but twice by impacting cosmic bodies (asteroid, meteor, etc.). One will be a “great mountain burning with fire” which impacts into an ocean. It is prophesied to destroy 1/3rd of all ships at sea, and kill 1/3rd of all life at sea. The second heavenly object to hit the earth will impact somewhere where rivers are located (which would have to be on land. The second object is likened to “a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp.” The movie, Deep Impact, has a plot involving two heavenly objects which are about to impact the earth. One object is destroyed by nukes but the other impacts in the Atlantic Ocean off the USA’s eastern coast. The special effects make it look just like a “great mountain burning with fire [that] was cast into the sea,” which is exactly how the Prophet John saw it happen in his vision of the end times. If you have never seen that movie I think it is worth watching just for the very realistic scene of it passing over the USA’s eastern states and hitting in the Atlantic. The tsunami it triggers is spine-chilling.
Apophis is going to give us a preview of the fulfillment of Revelation 8’s prophecy when two heavenly objects are prophesied to hit the earth. Those may be the events which will also fulfill Isaiah’s 24’s prophecy that in the latter days, something is going to cause the earth to be hit hard enough to make our planet wobble on its axis as it orbits the earth. If an asteroid or meteor is big enough, hitting the earth could cause such a reaction. Such an event would be so destructive that humanity will be pleading with our Creator God to come and rescue our planet and all that live upon it.
Maybe Apophis is an advance warning of what is scheduled to come to pass in our future.
The third link is the result of a web search which offers readers many different viewpoints about this approaching asteroid.
- https://www.jpost.com/science/
article-894171?utm_source= 0032bdc9a6d1f0c2cc3e847ca8fb8e 3567&utm_medium=obbow&utm_ campaign= 000e21a11ab046632465d47d7f0263 992d&utm_adtitle=NASA+tracks+ colossal+asteroid+on+a+close+ approach+to+Earth&dicbo=v4- lbgNK9W-1075783007-1 - https://www.planetary.org/
articles/will-apophis-hit- earth - https://www.google.com/search?
client=firefox-b-1-d&q= ASteroid+Apophis+to+come+ close+to+earth+in+2029
