Massive Asteroid ‘Apophis’ may Hit Earth in 2068

A massive asteroid named ‘Apophis’ expected to pass extremely close or may hit the Earth in 2068 due to a phenomenon called Yarkovsky effect.

Daily Current Affairs Quiz 2020

Key-Points

Researchers at University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy (IfA) in the US, have announced the detection of Yarkovsky acceleration on the near-Earth asteroid Apophis.

The Port of Jingtang is an artificial deep-water international seaport on the coast of Tangshan Municipality, Hebei, in Northern China.

It is part of the Tangshan port complex, which consists of Jingtang, Caofedian and Fengnan ports. Combined, they constitute the 9th largest port in China.

Jingtang port is located in Bohai bay (Bohai sea) close to the port of Tianjin.

The Yarkovsky effect describes a small but significant force that affects the orbital motion of meteoroids and asteroids smaller than 30-40 kilometers in diameter.

It is caused by sunlight; when these bodies heat up in the Sun, they eventually re-radiate the energy away as heat, which in turn creates a tiny thrust.