Asteroid Apophis turned out to be more dangerous than previously thought

American astronomer David Tholen and his colleagues said that the asteroid Apophis may be more dangerous than

was considered before. In 2068, a catastrophe on a planetary scale may occur.

The asteroid Apophis was discovered in 2004.It has a radius of about 185 meters. Scientists have calculated that the celestial body will pass near the Earth in 2029, 2036 and 2068. Researchers considered that the risk of its collision with the planet was low.

David Tholen thinks they underestimated the danger.According to the scientist, other researchers did not take into account the Yarkovsky effect, when the sun's rays fall on one side of the asteroid. Because of this, a reactive impulse may appear - the celestial body receives additional acceleration and deviates from the calculated trajectory by 170 meters per year.

Tholen says that in 2029 and 2036 the risk of Apophis colliding with the Earth is still small, but in 2068 everything could end in disaster.