A Filipino Facebook (FB) page published a video erroneously claiming that an asteroid called 99942 Apophis will strike the planet in 2029.
On Feb. 28, the FB page published a video with this false caption: “May isang bulalakaw na tatama sa planetang earth. Kailan kaya ito tatama at gaano ito kadelikado sa tao (An asteroid will hit the planet Earth. When will this hit and how dangerous is this to people)?”
Clips of several simulations of huge asteroids hitting the Earth were shown during the six-minute video, while a narrator stated that there was a “2.7% chance” of it hitting the planet on April 13, 2029.
While it is true that initial observations on the Apophis’ trajectory indicated there was a slight risk the asteroid might impact the Earth, new observations have ruled that out.
“A radar observation campaign in March 2021, combined with precise orbit analysis, allowed astronomers to conclude that there is no risk of Apophis impacting our planet for at least a century,” said the United States’ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in an information page on the asteroid.
Davide Farnocchia, a navigation engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory also said in 2021 that “a 2068 impact” of Apophis is no longer possible.
Here is NASA’s animation depicting the orbital trajectory of Apophis as it would zoom past Earth on April 13, 2029:
This video emerged after NASA announced the five asteroids that will approach near Earth on March 3, and the closest will pass 1.7 million kilometers near the planet’s surface.
FB page Historya Channel (created on July 20, 2019) published the video, garnering over 10,000 reactions, 340 comments, 1,200 shares and 344,000 views.
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