Asteroid 2024 YR4: threat to the earth or just a short fright?

Asteroid 2024 YR4: threat to the earth or just a short fright?

Río Hurtado, Chile - The recently discovered Asteroid 2024 YR4 ensures concern worldwide. Astronomers calculate a low but existential possibility that he could hit the earth on December 22, 2032. The first estimates of the probability of impact were 1.2 percent, while current calculations they raised to 2.3 percent. The celestial body between 40 and 100 meters, discovered on December 27, 2024 with the Atlas telescope in Chile, could cause massive destruction in the event of an impact and possibly wipe out an entire city, such as kosmo.at reported.

attentive observation by the ESA

The European space organization ESA has classified the asteroid on the Torino scale with level 3, which means that it needs special attention. If YR4 would be in 2024, destruction in large cities such as Paris, London or New York could be devastating, Bruce Betts warned of Planetary Society. The ESA has intensified its observations and plans to use the James Webb World Commerce Telescope for more precisely analysis of the asteroid. This telescope can measure the infrared radiation of asteroids and helps to make more precise size and train estimates, so Esa.int .

The international community is also active to cope with possible risks. Two un-supported international reaction groups, the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) and the Space Mission Planning Advisory Group (SMPAG), are already examining their next steps. At the moment, astronomers have the task of categorizing the railway and structure of the asteroid, and hope to be able to observe it better in 2028. This careful monitoring and the dramatic statement of Ekspert that an asteroid of this size strikes the earth every few millennia, illustrate the urgency of the situation.