Zero chance of asteroid hitting Earth in 2029 - Russian astronomer

MOSCOW, (RIA Novosti) - The possibility of a large asteroid colliding with Earth in 2029 is zero, Russia's top astronomer said Thursday.

The near-earth asteroid Apophis, discovered in mid-2004, caused a brief period of alarm in December 2004, when scientists calculated that there was as much as a 1/37 probability of it colliding with the earth.

Observations soon reduced the probability to zero, but fears of a catastrophic collision have remained a topic of discussion among non-experts, particularly on internet forums.

Boris Shustov, the head of the Astronomy Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said the asteroid will fly past Earth at a distance of 38,000-40,000 km.

"The error cannot be more than 10,000 km," he said.

However, the astronomer said Earth will face a more serious threat in 2036, when Apophis, named after the ancient Egyptian spirit of evil and destruction, will again pass close to Earth.

But Shustov said the impact probability in 2036 "will be low."