Latest news with #2024YR
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
People are creeped out for same reason after seeing mind-blowing picture taken of asteroid in space
Giant rocks tearing through space at breakneck speed is terrifying at the best of times, but one picture of an asteroid has given many the creeps. There are an estimated 1.1 to 1.9 million asteroids bobbing about up there in space that stretch to a whopping 1 kilometer in diameter, according to NASA, and that's just the big ones. There are millions of smaller ones too. Earlier this year, the space boffins warned an asteroid called 2024 YR some tens of thousands of miles away in orbit actually posed a threat to our home planet, with NASA warning the gigantic beast the size of New York's Statue of Liberty could come careering towards us as early as 2032. NASA has since said the asteroid no longer poses a significant threat to us (phew!), but many are still afraid of them, and understandably so considering their mammoth size. Take for instance Donaldjohnson, which formed some 150 millions years ago and measures up to the size of not one but two of New York's Central Parks placed end-to-end. However, it's one seemingly inconspicuous space rock that is causing the latest stir as a close-up shot is giving many the heebie-jeebies. The asteroid in question is called Ryugu which boasts one of the 'clearest ever taken' of an asteroid. The image was taken by Hayabusa-2, a Japanese asteroid sampling mission, which returned samples of the asteroid back to Earth for study in 2020. An explanation from NASA explained the asteroid's significance, saying: "Asteroid Ryugu, a near-Earth and potentially hazardous asteroid, is classified as a Cb-type asteroid." They added that it's about 1km across and made of 'water-rich and carbonaceous materials' and said they hoped to learn about the evolution of the solar system by studying it. And while it's certainly thrilling and fascinating to see the rock so clearly, there's one element to it that's made some feel unsettled - and that is just how dark space actually is. The closest we come to seeing a total absence of light is perhaps images of the ocean at night, yet space is obviously darker, and therefore way more ominous. Dozens say they've been left feeling queasy by its inky blackness surrounding the asteroid and shared their thoughts on the ordeal on social media. One person wrote: "Imagine the last time that thing was as close to another light source," while another said: "Outer space seems less like a star ocean and more like an infinite void." Another said: "Agree, the complete void of space is so unsettling." Clearest image ever taken of asteroid Ryugu. The pitch black background is scary... — Curiosity (@MAstronomers) May 2, 2024 A fourth chimed: "OMG! At first glance I thought this was the bottom of the ocean." Just imagine being out there, alone, as others pointed out. "If we're out in that blackness, imagine what else is out there..." However, some astronauts said they were far from lonely when cruising through the abyss of space. Michael Collins, who piloted the command module on Apollo 11, became the most isolated human being in the entire universe when he passed around to the dark side of the Moon. Yet, he said he felt 'awareness, anticipation, satisfaction, confidence, almost exultation' on his trip.
The Guardian
06-02-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Asteroid's chances of hitting Earth in 2032 just got higher – but don't panic!
It might not be the world-ending apocalypse foretold in the Netflix drama Don't Look Up, but astronomers have significantly upped the odds of a direct hit from a giant asteroid currently hurtling towards Earth. According to Nasa's Center for Near Earth Object Studies (Cneos), the odds of a strike in 2032 by the space rock that goes by the somewhat unassuming name 2024 YR are calculated to be 2.3% – a one-in-43 chance. Barely a week ago, the European Space Agency (Esa) gave the asteroid a 1.3% chance of hitting the planet on 22 December that year, the day it will make its closest approach to Earth. Or, phrased another way, it had an almost 99% probability of passing by without incident. At up to 300ft (90m) in width, according to Nasa-funded skywatchers who spotted it from a telescope in Chile just before new year, the object is roughly the same size as the Tunguska asteroid that flattened about 830 square miles (2,150 sq km) of remote Siberian forest when it exploded in 1908. Astronomers, however, are urging Earth dwellers not to panic, even though 2024 YR4 has rocketed to the top of official impact risk lists on both sides of the Atlantic, and has the rare rating of three on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale that ranges from a no-risk zero to a civilization-ending 10. Fluctuations in the chances of a strike so far out from an object's arrival are common, and in a YouTube video entitled 'How asteroids go from threat to no sweat', Esa explains that the likelihood of 2024 YR4 ever striking the planet will drop to virtually zero once updated data on speed and trajectory is received in the coming weeks and months. The planetary defense coordination office of Nasa, the US space agency, agrees. 'There have been several objects in the past that have risen on the risk list and eventually dropped off as more data have come in,' researcher Molly Wasser said in a statement. 'New observations may result in reassignment of this asteroid to zero as more data come in.' Colin Snodgrass, professor of planetary astronomy at the University of Edinburgh, told the Guardian last week: 'Most likely this one will pass by harmlessly. 'It just deserves a little more attention with telescopes until we can confirm that. The longer we follow its orbit, the more accurate our future predictions of its trajectory become.' Other recent similar scares would appear to reinforce the message. The asteroid 99942 Apophis, discovered in 2004 and larger than the Eiffel Tower, was once given a rating of four on the Torino scale, but was eventually calculated to be no threat to Earth on any of its close passes for at least the next 100 years. Yet even if 2024 YR4 continues on towards Earth with a high chance of impact, the success of Nasa's Dart mission in 2022, in which a spacecraft was deliberately crashed into an asteroid the size of a football stadium and altered its trajectory, gives grounds for optimism for the future of humanity. 'This asteroid is of the scale that a mission like Dart could be effective, if required, so we have the technology and it has been tested,' Snodgrass said.
Yahoo
31-01-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
There's a small chance an asteroid could hit Earth within the next decade, says NASA
A large asteroid could pass close enough to Earth within the next decade that there's a chance it could strike the planet, according to NASA. The space rock, named 2024 YR4, is between 130 feet and 330 feet in diameter and could hit Earth in 2032, according to NASA's Center for Near Earth Object Studies. MORE: Asteroid nearly hits Earth in Siberia, with a 2nd massive asteroid passing this week But that likelihood is low, with just a 1.3% chance that the asteroid could make direct impact on the planet on Dec. 22, 2032, according to space experts. Astronomers monitoring the ATLAS telescope at the University of Hawaii first spotted the asteroid as it was moving away from Earth on Dec. 27 and reported it to the International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center, which determined it had never before been seen, Kelly Fast, a planetary defense officer at NASA, told ABC News. Asteroid 2024 YR4 has an "interesting" orbit, Fast said. The elongated path takes the asteroid around the sun and into Earth's vicinity before it ventures far out between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, she said. "In the past, even though it's passed through the inner solar system before, it didn't always pass by where the Earth happened to be, where it could be picked up easily," Fast said, explaining why the asteroid was only recently discovered. MORE: Asteroid to enter Earth's orbit temporarily: What to know about 'mini-moon' Because of its unique orbit, astronomers are trying to learn everything they can about 2024 YR4 before it disappears out of sight after April, Fast said. It's not expected to be visible again until 2028. The end of 2032 is when astronomers predict 2024 YR will come close to Earth again, Fast said, adding that further observations are expected to provide data to support the likelihood that 2024 YR4 will avoid hitting Earth. "The worldwide community is continuing to take observations," Fast said. "it can't all happen in a day, because the asteroid has to keep moving in the sky." Astronomers estimate the size of asteroids based on how much light they reflect. Based on current data, 2024 YR is large enough for it to potentially cause localized damage were it to strike a populated city, Fast said. In 1908, the Tunguska asteroid, which was a similar size, flattened trees over an area of about 1,250 miles after it exploded in the skies over Siberia. MORE: 'Asteroid hunter' digs deep into massive space object that's set to make close pass to Earth Congress has tasked NASA with locating asteroids larger than 450 feet in length – large enough to potentially do "regional" damage were it to strike the planet, Fast said. Smaller asteroids, within a few yards in diameter, tend to be disintegrated by Earth's atmosphere and transformed into fireballs, Fast said. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Asteroid Watch tracks asteroids and comets that will make relatively close approaches to Earth. Five asteroids are forecast to pass near Earth in the coming days. On Friday, two asteroids are expected to pass near Earth, according to the updated list. Asteroid 2025 BR2, with JPL describes as an "airplane-size" space rock about 67 feet long, is expected to pass within 3.21 million miles of Earth, while another asteroid, 2015 DJ155 – two-and-a-half times as large, at 170 feet – is expected to pass within 4.42 million miles of Earth. Two more asteroids, 2025 BG4 and 2025 BR7 – 75 and 100 feet in length, respectively – are forecast to pass within 3.09 million miles and 3.58 million miles of Earth, respectively, also on Friday. On Sunday, 2025 BU, which JPL describe as being about the size of a house, at around 54 feet in length, is predicted to pass within 2.1 million miles of Earth, according to Asteroid Watch. Fast emphasized that although these asteroids are passing "relatively" close to Earth, they're still a great distance away. The moon itself is fewer than 240,000 miles from Earth and there are often asteroids passing Earth within that distance, she said. "Space is big, and so that's very far away," Fast said. There's a small chance an asteroid could hit Earth within the next decade, says NASA originally appeared on
