Apophis: A naked-eye 2029 flyby set to beam across billions of skies

New maps project the potentially hazardous asteroid Apophis will perform a seven‑hour, ultra‑close flyby on April 13, 2029, passing about 19,000 miles from Earth and could be visible to up to 90% of the world’s population. At the start, as many as ~4.5 billion people might see it; peak visibility could reach ~5.7 billion across eastern Africa, Southern Europe, Australia, Asia and the Middle East; by the end, ~1.9 billion in eastern South America, northern Africa and parts of Europe. North America is expected to miss the clear view. It will appear as a modest, slow‑moving star, and there is zero chance of impact in the next 100 years, though the trajectory could shift slightly. Scientists will coordinate global observations, with missions like NASA’s OSIRIS‑APEX studying its structure; the event coincides with the UN’s International Year of Asteroid Awareness and Planetary Defence.