NASA radically changes its prediction about the 'city killer' asteroid heading toward Earth
NASA and the European Space Agency have dramatically changed their forecasts for the 'city killer' asteroid. The 2024 YR4 space rock, which last week was considered the most dangerous in history, now has an almost zero percent chance of colliding with Earth in 2032.
According to NASA, the asteroid has a 0.0017% chance of crashing into our planet, meaning the risk is 1 in 59,000. Instead, ESA estimates a similar probability of impact at 0.002%, CNN writes.
Earlier, the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) predicted that the probability of a collision between the "city killer" and our planet was 3%, and last week it reduced this probability to 0.28%, CBS News noted.
The apocalyptic scenario of a giant asteroid colliding with the Earth is still not happening.
Source: Freepik
"When first discovered, asteroid 2024 YR4 had a very small, but notable chance of impacting our planet in 2032," NASA said.
"As observations of the asteroid continued to be submitted to the Minor Planet Center, experts at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies were able to calculate more precise models of the asteroid’s trajectory and now have found there is no significant potential for this asteroid to impact our planet for the next century," the agency added.
The 'city killer' also dropped to 0 out of 10 on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale, a tool for classifying possible collisions between space objects and the Earth. The rating indicates that "the likelihood of a collision is zero."
It should be recalled that asteroid 2024 YR4 was discovered on December 27, 2024. It is about 40-90 meters wide, so it could cause localized damage if it collides with the planet.
This image taken by the University of Hawaii's alert system shows asteroid 2024 YR4 on December 27, 2024.
Source: ATLAS/University of Hawaii/NASA/AP
However, the Moon may be in the path of this large space rock. The latest NASA data show that the probability of the 'city killer' hitting the Earth's satellite is 1.7%.
Earlier, OBOZ.UA reported that the 'city killer' asteroid could crash into the Earth and named the countries that could be affected by the dangerous asteroid.
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