An asteroid is heading for Earth - but you'll have to wait a while to find out if we're gonna get hit
A massive asteroid could slam into Earth in the next seven years.
Known as Asteroid 2024 YR4, the nearly 200-foot large space rock could hit just before Christmas of 2032.
Discovered last Christmas by Arizona's Catalina Sky Survey, the asteroid is currently the only Near-Earth Object that has been placed at a level three on Torino impact hazard scale, giving it the highest probability of impact of any other large objects being tracked by NASA and other space agencies. The scale categorizes potential Earth impact events.
This marks 'one of the highest probabilities of an impact from a significantly sized rock ever,' David Rankin, from the Catalina Sky Survey, wrote on BlueSky.
Although, more observation is needed to understand how close 2024 YR4 could come to Earth.
'Recently-discovered asteroid 2024 YR4 may make a very close approach to Earth in eight years,' said Tony Dunn, an amateur astronomer who shared a visualization of the asteroid on X (formerly Twitter).
'It is thought to be 40-100 meters wide. Uncertainty is still high and more observations are needed to confirm this.'
Dunn's animation of the asteroid shows it skimming Earth at an altitude of 301 miles, with its trajectory altered by the planet's gravitational pull.
This is less than half the distance of most low-Earth orbit satellites, suggesting that it could even be pulled into Earth's atmosphere at that altitude.
The 'risk corridor' for impact stretches from South America, across central Africa, and up towards India and South-East Asia. But, this could shift as new data emerges.
Just how devastating the impact would potentially be depends not only on the size of the asteroid, but also its composition. By comparison, the asteroid that ended the age of the dinosaur is estimated to be between six and nine miles wide.
However, astronomers say the odds of a collision are around 1-in-83.
'We are not worried at all, because of this 99 percent chance it will miss," Paul Chodas, director of NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies, told The Associated Press. 'But it deserves attention.'
2024 YR4 is currently hurdling through space some 27 million miles from Earth, traveling at a velocity of 13.5 km/s, according to NASA's Eyes on Asteroid.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Crashed lander looks back at Earth from the moon
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Resilience, a lunar lander built and operated by the Japanese company ispace, was part of the Hakuto-R Mission to deploy a "Moonhouse," a tiny colorful art piece, on the moon, while also exploring its surface features using its Tenacious rover. After launching on Jan. 15 from Florida's Space Coast on Hakuto-R Mission 2, ispace's Resilience lander arrived in lunar orbit on May 6. The lander then deftly shifted its path to an orbit just 62 miles (100 kilometers) above the moon's surface. On May 27, Resilience took this photo, with a view of Japan being blocked by the clouds on Earth's surface, according to an ispace tweet. Resilience hovers over the moon in its lunar orbit, aiming for the Mare Frigoris ("Sea of Cold") on the moon's near side, as a landing site. With Resilience, the Japanese company ispace hoped to be one of the first to land a private spacecraft on the moon. Unfortunately, its first mission, in April 2023, ended in failure as the crashed during its touchdown attempt. Undeterred, ispace — in collaboration with other agencies like NASA and JAXA — designed and tested Resilience as part of the Hakuto-R Mission 2 (the R stands for "reboot"). Resilience carried five payloads, including a small 11-pound (5 kilograms) rover named Tenacious, which would have been used to collect lunar samples, according to NASA. Unfortunately, the landing for Resilience, scheduled on June 5, 2025, came to an abrupt halt when telemetry data from the lander stopped coming in right before the soft landing, leaving the world wondering what happened to Resilience. A few hours later, ispace announced that Resilience likely crashed on the moon, bringing an end to the mission. You can read more about Resilience and ispace's other missions as the company tries to return to the moon.
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
When is the strawberry moon? See peak times, cloud forecast for full moon
June welcomes a rare strawberry moon. The strawberry moon will reach its peak on Wednesday, June 11, at 3:44 a.m. ET, NASA said. However, the moon will dazzle backyard astronomers everywhere in the evening on Tuesday, June 10, as this will be the best time to see the spectacle as it rises during dusk, according to LiveScience. In areas where the weather permits, the moon will appear a shade of red or orange. Though the moon will be full, it might appear 14% smaller and 30% dimmer, a phenomenon known as a micromoon. According to NASA, this occurs when the celestial body is at its farthest point from Earth. According to the Almanac, the "strawberry moon" name derives from the Native American Algonquian tribes, who lived in the northwestern United States. The Ojibwe, Dakota and Lakota tribes also used the name, which marked the wild strawberries in June. Here is everything you should know about this rare moon. The full moon will be at its peak on Wednesday, June 11, at 3:44 a.m. ET. Since the moon is going to be at its peak so early during the day, the best time to see it is the evening before, on Tuesday, June 10, according to USA TODAY's previous reporting. On Tuesday, June 10, some parts of the U.S. are expected to have clouds, while the majority of the country is forecast to have clear skies, according to the National Weather Service. The strawberry moon will be low in the sky, so it is best to go to a location where you can see the eastern horizon at a low angle. The moon will be one of the lowest in the sky, and the moonlight will reflect the Earth's atmosphere, giving it a yellow or orange tint. The following dates list out the rest of the expected full moons in 2025: July 10- Buck Moon Aug. 9- Sturgeon Moon Sept. 7- Harvest Moon Oct. 6- Hunter's Moon Nov. 5- Beaver Moon Dec. 4- Cold Moon Contributing: Janet Loehrke & Carlie Procell/ USA TODAY Julia is a trending reporter for USA TODAY. Connect with her on LinkedIn, X, Instagram and TikTok: @juliamariegz, or email her at jgomez@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: When can you see the strawberry moon? See peak times, forecast
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
After the SpaceX rocket launch, here's how to see the booster land at Cape Canaveral SFS
With the crew of Axiom Space Mission 4 set to lift off at 8 a.m. June 11 from NASA's Kennedy Space Center pad 39A, those watching from the Space Coast are in for a treat as SpaceX plans to return its booster on land. Common in missions traveling to the International Space Station, just more than eight minutes after launch, the Falcon 9's booster will come barreling back to Cape Canaveral Landing Zone 1, triggering a sonic boom. With the remaining booster fuel enough to allow a land return, it eliminates the need for SpaceX to land the booster on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. It's a win for all, as it brings the booster back to SpaceX right away, and gives viewers a glimpse of an event that was science fiction just a decade ago. What to know about the Ax-4 mission: Doubleheader launch: Ax-4 astronauts to launch on SpaceX rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center So how can you watch the SpaceX booster return? Afterall, it's easy to hear the resulting sonic boom but where do you look to see the rocket descend toward Cape Canaveral. The SpaceX Falcon 9 booster (first stage) will return to Cape Canaveral Landing Zone 1, which is located just southeast of NASA's Kennedy Space Center pad 39A. For reference, the landing zones are in the area just north of the Cape Canaveral lighthouse. No matter your location, keep your eyes more to the east after liftoff. Local beaches: A great place to see the booster return is from either Cape Canaveral or Cocoa Beach, where there is a clear view of Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on the northern horizon. Jetty Park: Jetty Park is also a great place to watch the booster return, as well as the launch. From the jetty, a clear view to the north is provided. This is also the closet the public can get to the booster return site. Take note that Jetty Park requires either a pass or daily fee to enter. The return of the booster will be not instantaneous after the launch, so do not leave or look away. Keep in mind that weather conditions play a part in exactly what will be visible. In total, it takes just over eight minutes to see the booster return. Stage separation, which is where the rocket's upper stage and booster separate, is visible a bit after liftoff. However, while the upper stage may remain viable, the booster can vanish for a bit as it begins descending to Earth. While the booster descends, a short burn working to slow the booster may be visible to spectators. After this, the booster will vanish again for a bit. As the booster comes in for a landing, the glowing and consistent landing burn will be visible to those watching. This landing burn does not last long, but is unmistakable. At this point, there will be a view of the booster as it slowly descends vertically toward Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. When is the next Florida launch? Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX, Axiom, ULA rocket launch schedule at Cape Canaveral The booster will descend out of view as it lands, but the show is not over. Shortly afterward, a loud sonic boom will sound throughout the area. This thunderous sound is created due to the booster's return speed being faster than sound. As light travels faster than sound, those on the ground see the booster come back first before the sound travels to their location. This phenomena is the same reason we see lightning before hearing the thunder. Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@ or on X: @brookeofstars. This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Here's how to watch the SpaceX rocket booster land at Cape Canaveral
