How large is the asteroid apophis?

Answer 1

An asteroid is anything greater that 10 meters across that orbits the Sun

A meteoroid is a sand- to boulder-sized particle of debris in the Solar System.

The visible path of a meteoroid that entersEarth's (or another body's) atmosphere is called a meteor, or colloquially a shooting star or falling star. If a meteoroid reaches the ground and survives impact, then it is called a meteorite (or bolide as a flash in the sky).

The largest, and the first discovered asteroid, is Ceres with a diameter of about 900km (larger than the dwarf planet Pluto).

The asteroid that is assumed to have devastated the dinosaurs and created the Chicxulub crater was about 10km in diameter.

Answer 2

The biggest asteroids are about 500 miles in length; any larger, and their mass and internal gravity would cause them to collapse into a nearly spherical shape and reach "hydrostatic equilibrium". This is one of the criteria that the International Astronomical Union has set for "dwarf planet" status.

I'm not aware of a minimum size for an asteroid; space rocks that have made fairly close passes by the Earth have been described by NASA as being asteroids, even though their size was measured in mere feet. So you could consider any space object that's visible (before it hits the Earth's atmosphere and becomes a meteor) as an asteroid.

Answer 3

The size of asteroids can vary and the largest asteroid, Ceres, is about 583 miles in diameter. Other asteroids are about 20 feet in diameter while many in the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars are larger than 60 miles in diameter.

Answer 4

The largest asteroid is Ceres, which is really now classed as a Dwarf Planet since it is just about massive enough to hold an elipsoid shape under its own gravity. It may also be referred to an asteroid though as it is part of the asteroid belt. This has a diameter of around 975km. there are two other fairly large asteroids known as Pallas and Vesta. these are around 500km in diameter, but have more irregular shapes. The smaller ones can be as small as you like, but obviously you wont be able to detect them down to a certain size or distance.

Answer 5

When the mass of the asteroid is great enough that its own gravity crushes it into a spherical shape, then technically we ought to call it a "dwarf planet" rather than an asteroid. But this definition is fairly new, and many objects that we call "asteroids" are bigger than that.

Answer 6

Ceres used to be considered an asteroid, but the 2006 IAU convention redefined it as a "dwarf planet". I suppose Vesta is the next largest.

Vesta is about 530 KM in size, but isn't spherical; it is more "bean" shaped. Because it isn't spherical, it cannot be considered a "dwarf planet".

Answer 7

The term "asteroid" can be applied to any space rock big enough to be visible while in space, but too small to be crushed into a spherical shape by its own gravity. If the space rock IS massive enough to become spherical because of its gravity, then it qualifies as a "dwarf planet" at least.

So the body called Ceres _used to be_ called an asteroid, because it was in the asteroid belt, but it is now considered a "dwarf planet". The slightly smaller body named Vesta is still an asteroid.

On the low end, there have been some fairly small rocks - in the tens of meters size - that NASA has called "asteroid".

Answer 8

Asteroid Apophis is approximately 340 meters (1,120 feet) in diameter.

Answer 9

There isn't really a meaningful "average". Asteroids range in size from almost-planets to mere space rocks. I'm not sure that there is a minimum official size for an "asteroid".

Answer 10

To put anyone at a calm state no its not gonna end the world.Its not that big but it is a fairly big size.If it hits its not gonna end the world.