{"id":434110,"date":"2026-05-05T22:49:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T22:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/434110\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T22:49:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T22:49:13","slug":"eiffel-tower-sized-asteroid-apophis-to-pass-closer-to-earth-than-many-satellites-in-2029-nasa-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/434110\/","title":{"rendered":"Eiffel Tower-sized asteroid Apophis to pass closer to Earth than many satellites in 2029, NASA says"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/n8po3tvcj3p2aeqf.jpg\" alt=\"New asteroids discoved by observatory\" class=\"sr-only\" data-v-4292be72=\"\"\/>  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.livenowfox.com\/video\/1664685\" data-v-4292be72=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">New asteroids discoved by observatory<\/a> <\/p>\n<p data-v-4292be72=\"\">In about 10 hours of observations, NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory discovered 2,104 never-before-seen asteroids in our solar system, including seven near-Earth asteroids.<\/p>\n<p data-v-871f4c88=\"\">A large asteroid about the size of the Eiffel Tower is expected to come unusually <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/massive-asteroid-bigger-skyscraper-heading-earth-24000-mph\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">close to Earth<\/a> in 2029, but there is no risk of impact, scientists said.<\/p>\n<p data-v-871f4c88=\"\">The asteroid, named Apophis, will pass around 20,000 miles from Earth&#8217;s surface on April 13, 2029\u2014closer than many satellites in orbit, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/science\/air-and-space\/nasa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">NASA<\/a>. Apophis is classified as &#8220;potentially hazardous&#8221; and is made of leftover &#8220;raw material&#8221; that was never part of a planet or moon.<\/p>\n<p data-v-871f4c88=\"\">&#8220;When it was discovered in 2004, it appeared Apophis might impact Earth in either 2029, 2036, or 2068,&#8221; NASA said. &#8220;Since then, astronomers have closely watched Apophis using optical telescopes and ground-based radar, allowing its orbit to become better understood. Based on this data, NASA is now confident that there is no risk of Apophis impacting Earth for at least 100 years.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-v-871f4c88=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/ufo-writer-paranormal-youtuber-dies-suicide-home-mental-health-call-police\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">UFO WRITER, PARANORMAL YOUTUBER DIES IN SUICIDE AT HOME AFTER MENTAL HEALTH CALL: POLICE<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-v-871f4c88=\"\">Apophis was discovered on June 19, 2004, by astronomers Roy Tucker, David Tholen, and Fabrizio Bernardi at Kitt Peak National Observatory near <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/us-regions\/southwest\/arizona\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Tucson, Arizona<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/asteroid-nasa-fox-news-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\"\/> <\/p>\n<p data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\">NASA simulation shows how Apophis, a large asteroid, will pass by Earth in 2029, but there is no risk of impact, the space agency said. (NASA) <\/p>\n<p data-v-871f4c88=\"\">They could only see the asteroid for two days because of technical and weather problems. In December 2004, another team of astronomers in Australia was able to observe the asteroid, NASA said.<\/p>\n<p data-v-871f4c88=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/science\/earth-mini-moon-asteroid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">EARTH BIDS FAREWELL TO &#8216;MINI MOON&#8217; ASTEROID SET FOR RETURN VISIT IN 2055<\/a><\/p>\n<p data-v-871f4c88=\"\">Observatories around the world and in space will observe Apophis\u2019 historic close approach to better understand its physical properties. In anticipation of the event, NASA has redirected a spacecraft to rendezvous with Apophis shortly after its 2029 Earth close-approach. After successfully completing its mission to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/world\/china-launches-tianwen-2-space-probe-collect-samples-from-asteroid-near-mars\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">gather a sample of asteroid<\/a> Bennu and bringing it to Earth in September 2023, NASA\u2019s OSIRIS-REx was sent to study Apophis.<\/p>\n<p data-v-871f4c88=\"\">The spacecraft was renamed OSIRIS-APophis EXplorer (OSIRIS-APEX), and it\u2019s on its way to meet up with its new target. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/tech\/esas-space-telescope-euclid-discovers-astonishing-einstein-ring\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">European Space Agency (ESA)<\/a> is also sending a spacecraft to study the asteroid.<\/p>\n<p data-v-871f4c88=\"\">Apophis is expected to be visible to observers in the Eastern Hemisphere, weather permitting, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/travel\/7-planets-display-tonight-you-have-short-window-see-stunning-sight\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">without a telescope or binoculars<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p data-v-871f4c88=\"\">&#8220;The most important thing happening in this event is that Apophis will be pulled, twisted, stretched, and squeezed by the gravity of Earth as it goes by, in a way that happens only during a very close encounter,&#8221; NASA said. &#8220;The overall pull will change Apophis\u2019s orbit around <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/science\/air-and-space\/sun\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">the Sun<\/a>, making the orbit slightly larger and giving it a longer orbital period.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-v-871f4c88=\"\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/science\/eiffel-tower-sized-asteroid-apophis-pass-closer-earth-many-satellites-2029-nasa-says\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Find more updates on this story at FOXNews.com.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.livenowfox.com\/tag\/science\/air-space\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-871f4c88=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Air and Space<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.livenowfox.com\/tag\/us\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-871f4c88=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">U.S.<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New asteroids discoved by observatory In about 10 hours of observations, NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory discovered 2,104&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434111,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[26739,61,60,43,82,90],"class_list":["post-434110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-air-space","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-science","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}