A few months ago, an asteroid created quite a buzz. At one point, asteroid 2024 YR4 had a 3.1% chance of hitting Earth, creating plenty of headlines about its potential impact. The threat is all but gone, but we now have pictures of the once-worrisome asteroid.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured images of the asteroid with two cameras, including the Near-Infrared Camera and the Mid-Infrared Instrument. The former measures reflected light, while the latter shows thermal energy. The images were posted by the European Space Agency last week. The pictures demonstrate a couple of fun facts about the asteroid: It is the smallest object ever targeted by JWST’s instruments to date, and it’s one of the smallest objects ever directly measured.
Estimates initially put the asteroid at around 40 to 90 meters. The actual size turned out to be 60 meters or around 180 feet. “These measurements indicate that this asteroid does not share properties observed in larger asteroids,” the European Space Agency said in its post. “This is likely a combination of its fast spin and lack of fine-grained sand on its surface. Further research is needed, however, this is considered consistent with a surface dominated by rocks that are roughly fist-sized or larger.”
According to NASA, the asteroid will only be visible from Earth for a little longer. It orbit is now taking it away from Earth, and the agency estimates that it will disappear from even the strongest telescope instruments by late April or early May. NASA said the asteroid will not be visible again until 2028 when its orbit brings it back toward Earth.
The asteroid may hit the moon
The 2024 YR4 asteroid caused quite a stir when astronomers first reported it via the Minor Planet Center in December 2024. Based on the data collected on its trajectory at that point, the asteroid had a 1.3% chance of hitting Earth.
The percentage fluctuated over the next few months, reaching as high as 3.1%. After further research, the odds dropped dramatically to 0.28%. According to NASA’s Sentry tool, which monitors asteroids that may impact Earth, the threat now sits at 0.00078%.
The moon may not be so lucky. Per NASA, the odds of the asteroid impacting the moon are somewhere around 3.8%, which is even higher odds than the asteroid ever had of impacting Earth. Scientists are gathering data before the asteroid disappears, but it’s likely we won’t know more until the asteroid comes back into view in 2028.
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