Monday, 20 May 2013

observation - How big will Apophis appear?

Current estimates put Apophis's diameter around 325 m and its 2029-04-13 approach about 38000 km from the center of the Earth. I figure an angular size <= 2 arcsec, almost starlike even if you manage to track it in a telescope.
Ephemerides show it at apparent magnitude 3.5 or so just before closest approach - visible but not outstanding to the unaided eye at night - and spending about 36 hours within 1 lunar distance of the Earth.

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