Task 1. APOPHIS

How old will you be in 2029? That is how old you will be when a large asteroid, called Apophis, comes very, very close to our planet. Asteroids are rocks that circle in space and sometimes come closer to the Earth and even hit it. Most asteroids are very small and, if you are lucky, you can sometimes see them in the night sky as “falling stars”. Most scientists believe that one large asteroid, about six to twelve kilometers across, hit the Earth and killed all the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago. Apophis is also very big. Scientists discovered it in 2004. They say it is about 300 meters across. That’s about the size of a large sports stadium. According to the scientists’ results, it is not huge enough to destroy our world, but it is large enough to destroy several cities. It will probably miss the Earth, they say, but it will be much closer than the Moon for a few minutes. If you don’t find that scary, the same asteroid will visit our planet a few years later in 2036. Again, it will miss our planet, but again by a very small distance…probably. The only thing we are sure is that all the eyes and telescopes in every country in the world will be watching the sky during such important days.

Choose True or False:

1. Most asteroids are huge enough to destroy the world. True / False

2. One big asteroid hit the Earth and killed some dinosaurs sixteen million years ago. True / False

3. Scientists discovered the asteroid called Apophis in 2004. True / False

4. Apophis is big enough to destruct many countries and continents. True / False

Answer the questions:
5. What are asteroids?
6. How can you see asteroids in the night sky?