Bengaluru: There is a possibility of a large asteroid coming close to Earth. This asteroid is named 'Apophis', it is named after the Egyptian god of chaos, it is moving rapidly towards the Earth. ISRO Chief Dr. S Somnath has warned about this, he said, it is moving rapidly towards the Earth and it is likely to collide with the Earth on April 13, 2029.

S Somnath says, if it collides with the Earth, humanity will be destroyed. ISRO is very aware of that danger and our Network for Space Object Tracking and Analysis (NETRA) is monitoring Apophis very closely. After all, we have only one Earth to live on. He further said, we will cooperate with all countries to avoid this and other such future threats.

The discovery was made in 2004

Apophis was first discovered in 2004 and its periodicity, in which it comes close to Earth, has been tracked very closely. The next encounter will take place in 2029 and then in 2036. While there are concerns about its impact on Earth, some studies suggest that in 2029 it will fly by and not hit Earth.

This asteroid reached closest to Earth

At 32,000 kilometres above Earth, no other asteroid of this size has ever come so close to our planet.

Apophis is larger than India's largest aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya and the largest cricket stadium, the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

What is its depth?

The estimated diameter of an asteroid is around 340 to 450 metres and any planetary body above 140 metres in diameter that passes close to Earth is considered potentially hazardous.