can someone explain to me what apophis is and this asteroid that nasa are saying could strike us in 2036 or there around or is there any known coments or asteroids predicted to be colliding with us in the near future thanks
I think Apophis has something like a 1 in 20,000 chance. Not very high, and even if it does strike, I don't believe it's even close to being a planet killer in size. There is no need to apologize. Keep asking questions, I do all the time here. Astro, Alene, bikenbeer, Juju, and Undead are all great helps.
99942 Apophis is an asteroid that will make a close pass to Earth in 2029. There is no danger of a collision. If — I repeat, if — it passes through a very tiny window in its trajectory in 2029, it could have around a 1 in 250,000 chance of striking our planet during its next pass in April 2036.
1 in 250,000 is almost sure to not happen. In the unlikely event that there is an impact, however, the devastation will be regional, and people in the affected area will have ample warning to evacuate. After all, we're tracking the thing now, so there's no worry about a surprise event when it's close.
Near-earth objects pass by us all the time, and there are collisions all the time. Most of them, however, are too small to even notice. You can visit NASA's tracking program site here, and also check out SpaceWeather.com. We are in no danger of any major collision at this time. Apophis, as I mentioned above, is a tiny concern in 2036, but even in a worst-case scenario people will have ample warning to get out of the way.
Hi Rory
The problem here is that there are many websites which will tell you "NASA says…", but if you look at the NASA website to find out what they actually say, you will often come across something quite different. The current odds of a collision are 1 in 250,000 (you are more likely to be struck by lightning before 2036) and observations in the next few years will very likely reduce the probability to zero. This is a quote from the NASA/JPL Near Earth Object Program website
Using criteria developed in this research, new measurements possible in 2013 (if not 2011) will likely confirm that in 2036 Apophis will quietly pass more than 49 million km (30.5 million miles; 0.32 AU) from Earth on Easter Sunday of that year (April 13).