A European space telescope was able to capture new images of a huge asteroid called Apophis, and according to reports the asteroid is much bigger than astronomers originally believed. People will be able to view Apophis online during two free webcasts thanks to Space.com.
Click here to view the webcasts of the asteroid.
Apophis has been called the "doomsday asteroid" due to a study conducted in 2004 which states the asteroid has a 2.4 percent chance of hitting Earth when it passes Earth in 2029. European Space officials stated that while it still poses no threat to hit Earth during the flyby, they will continue to monitor the asteroid since it will pass again in 2036 according to Space.com.
The European Space Agency stated today that Apophis is around 1,066 feet wide, close to 20 percent larger than they originally estimated. Experts originally stated the asteroid was 885 feet.
"The 20 percent increase in diameter ... translates into a 75 percent increase in our estimates of the asteroid's volume or mass," study leader Thomas Müller of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany, said in a statement.
Click here to see pictures of the asteroid Apophis.
The two free webcasts will steam live from telescopes in Italy and the Canary Islands. People will not be able to see asteroids from their yards without some form of telescope according to Space.com.
The asteroid will be approximately 9.3 million miles away from Earth at the time of the webcasts according to Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project.
"Alone among all these near-Earth asteroids that have passed our way in recent years, Apophis has generated the most concern worldwide because of its extremely close approach in 2029 and [chances of a] potential impact, albeit small, in 2036," Slooh president Patrick Paolucci said in a statement according to Space.com.
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