Massive asteroid could hit Earth in 2036

**Jenna** · 01-08-13, 08:56 PM

While astronomers have ruled out the potential of impact, there is still a small chance of an impact in 2036; the principal source of uncertainty is the acceleration due to the Yarkovsky effect, a non-gravitational effect that is a unction of the asteroid’s rotation period, pole direction, thermal properties, mass, shape, and dimensions.
The close brush should come as relief for anyone living on Earth. NASA scientists recently calculated the impact of a direct strike from Apophis. According to the study, if Apophis were to strike the Earth it would generate a blast equivalent to more than 500 megatonnes of TNT. In comparison, the most powerful hydrogen bomb ever detonated, the Soviet Tsar Bomba, released 57 megatonnes. The blast would outdo the 330-foot meteor that exploded in the atmosphere above the Tunguska River in 1908. The asteroid hit Earth with an impact 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb that detonated on Hiroshima, destroying an area the size San Francisco.That said, the asteroid’s near pass should provide astronomers with an amazing show.

http://thespacereporter.com/2013/01/...al-for-impact/