Cape Canaveral – Scientists are finally given to Earth from the newly discovered asteroid.
After two months of observation, scientists have almost completely ruled out the threat from the asteroid 2024 YR4, NASA and the European Space Agency said Tuesday.
At one point, the probability of a strike in 2032 was about 3% higher, surpassing the global asteroid risk list.
The ESA then reduced the odds to 0.001%. NASA has dropped to 0.0017%. In other words, the asteroid would safely pass through Earth in 2032, with no threat of impact in the next century.
Paul Chodas, who heads NASA’s Near Earth Object Research Center, said there is no chance that the odds would rise at this point and that the impact of 2032 could have been ruled out.
“That’s the result we’ve been expecting for so long, but we couldn’t be 100% sure it would happen,” he said in an email.
However, according to NASA, there is a 1.7% chance that an asteroid will hit the moon on December 22, 2032. Chodas hopes that the odds of the moon’s strike will also disappear.
Telescopes of the world continue to track asteroids as they leave us. Webspace’s telescope will zoom next month to determine its size. It is expected to disappear from view in another 1-2 months of the month.
The asteroid discovered in December swings every four years, an estimated 130 to 300 feet (40 to 90 meters).
“This asteroid will no longer have a major impact on Earth, but YR4 2024 provided a valuable opportunity for research,” NASA said in a statement.
___
The Associated Press School of Health Sciences is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institution’s Science and Education Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. AP is solely responsible for all content.
Original issue: February 25th, 2025, 2:18pm EST
