The Impact of Asteroid Apophis on the Moon's Orbit: A Negligible Effect

The Close Encounter of Apophis and the Moon

According to an animation, the asteroid Apophis will come very close to both the Earth and the Moon in 2029. This raises the question of whether it will affect the Moon's orbit. The animation mentioned in the article can be found on IFLScience, providing a visual representation of the asteroid's trajectory.

The asteroid Apophis was "close" to hitting the Moon, but the practical answer is that the effects on the Moon's orbit will likely be too small to observe. All objects with mass will affect every other object in the universe, including the asteroid's impact on the Moon and Earth's orbits. However, due to the vast difference in mass, the changes caused by Apophis will be minuscule.

Apophis has a mass of approximately 61,000,000,000 kgs, while the Moon has a mass of approximately 73,420,000,000,000,000,000,000 kgs. The asteroid's mass is only about 0.83% of the Moon's mass. Despite interacting with the Moon, Apophis will cause extremely small changes to its orbit.

The article on IFLScience contains information about the asteroid Apophis and its potential impact on Earth. However, when it comes to the Moon's orbit, the answer is no. The asteroid's impact on the Moon's orbit will be negligible. The close encounter with Apophis will result in minimal effects, and the Moon's orbit is not expected to be significantly altered.

The small size of Apophis compared to the Earth and Moon is a factor in the minimal effects on their orbits. The effects of Apophis on the Moon's orbit will be so small that they can be disregarded. The animation mentioned in the article provides a visual representation of the asteroid's trajectory, giving further insight into its close approach to both the Earth and the Moon.

The close encounter of asteroid Apophis with the Moon will have a negligible effect on the Moon's orbit. Despite its mass, the small size of Apophis compared to the Moon renders its impact practically insignificant. The article on IFLScience sheds light on this phenomenon, assuring us that the Moon's orbit will remain largely unaffected by Apophis' passing.