Asteroid 2024 YR4 no longer poses significant threat to Earth in 2032, NASA's latest analysis determines
CBSN
A so-called "city killer" asteroid scientists have been monitoring after discovering it had a small chance of hitting Earth in 2032 "no longer poses a significant threat," NASA said in its latest analysis.
The 2024 YR4 asteroid, which is nearly the size of a football field, now has roughly a 0.004% chance of hitting Earth in about eight years, according to the space agency's latest calculations. The Center for Near-Earth Object Studies previously projected a 3% chance of the asteroid striking our planet before lowering the chance to 0.28% last week.
NASA said the changes are due to continued observations of the asteroid that allow experts to "calculate more precise models of the asteroid's trajectory." There's now no significant potential for this particular asteroid to impact Earth for the next century, the agency added.
