'City killer' asteroid, headed earlier for Earth, now set to hit moon in 2032? NASA's latest update
Asteroid 2024 YR4, which was earlier seen as a threat to Earth, now appears to be on a collision course with the moon.
Since its discovery last year, the asteroid had caught the attention of the world after it was revealed there was a slim possibility it might hit the Earth in 2032.
Experts at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Center for Near Earth Object Studies have updated the 2024 YR4's chance of hitting the Moon in 2032 to 4.3 per cent.
According to NASA, the possibility of 2024 YR4 hitting the moon was updated after data from the James Webb telescope and other ground-based telescopes.
'The Webb data improved our knowledge of where the asteroid will be on December 22, 2032, by nearly 20%. As a result, the asteroid's probability of impacting the Moon has slightly increased from 3.8% to 4.3%. In the small chance that the asteroid was to impact, it would not alter the Moon's orbit,' a post on NASA's blog read.
According to NASA, the asteroid is now too far away to observe with telescopes. Further observations will be conducted by the US space agency in 2028, when the asteroid's orbit around the Sun brings it back closer to Earth.
As data comes in, the probability of the asteroid's impact may change. An international team led by Maryland-based Dr. Andy Rivkin of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, made the observations about the asteroid in May using Webb's near-infrared camera.
When the asteroid was first discovered in 2024, it had a very low probability of impacting the Earth. After investigation, NASA concluded that the asteroid would not pose a significant impact risk to the planet in 2032 and beyond.
When the asteroid was discovered by the NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ALERT), it was called 'city destroyer' online due to its speed, size, and the possibility of it hitting the Earth.
It was discovered on December 27, 2024, by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System.
The asteroid is about 40 to 90 meters (130 to 300 feet) wide.
As of now, there is no significant impact risk posed by the asteroid in 2032.
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