Asteroid Apophis: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is 'closely monitoring' and will cooperate with the nations across the world in case a celestial body comes dangerously close to the Earth, Chairman S Somnath said while addressing the issue of a large asteroid, Apophis, which is expected to pass by Earth at a very close distance.

This comes as the Indian space agency gets a new domain called planetary defence, which is tasked with the job of protecting Earth from extra-terrestrial objects, a report stated.

The ISRO Chairman said that the agency's Network for Space Objects Tracking and Analysis (NETRA) is monitoring Apophis very closely, adding that the agency is very alert about its threat. The chairperson further said that a large asteroid strike is a real existential threat to humanity.

"A large asteroid strike is a real existential threat to humanity. ISRO is very alive to that threat and our Network for Space Objects Tracking and Analysis (NETRA) is monitoring Apophis very closely. After all, we have only one Earth to live on. India will co-operate with all nations to ward off this and other such future threats," Dr S Somanath, Chairman of ISRO said as quoted by the NDTV.

Asteroid Apophis, named after the Egyptian god of chaos, is rapidly moving towards the Earth and is expected to come in its closest proximity on April 13, 2029. With a diameter of about 340 to 350 meters, Apophis is even bigger than INS Vikramaditya - India's largest aircraft carrier. It is even bigger than Narendra Modi cricket stadium in Gujarat.

According to ISRO's estimates an asteroid with a diameter larger than 300 meters can cause "continental scale devastation", while if a celestial body with a diameter bigger than 10 kilometres in diameter hits Earth, it can cause "mass extinction".

Agencies