’Apophis’ went past planet earth last night: Arthur C. Clarke Centre

The asteroid named 'Apophis,' which earlier predicted would crash into planet Earth in 2029, went past the earth safely last night, a senior official of the Arthur C. Clarke Centre said.

According to NASA, the asteroid is roughly 1,000 feet (300 meters) in diameter and was discovered in 2004, he said.

Initial predictions showed the asteroid would crash into planet Earth in 2029, the senior official said.

He said the earth-passing asteroid was visible through even small telescopes.

However, the Apophis passed within 19,000 miles (31,000 km) of the planet Earth and was closer than some high-altitude satellites. 

According to the foreign media, the Apophis 
remained about 44 times as distant as the moon. At its closest point, the asteroid will be more than 10.2 million miles (16.4 million km) from the planet Earth. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)