An asteroid That's big enough to wipe out a city has a 1-in-43 chance of Hitting Our Planet in the year 2032. But according to new calculations, there's an ever's an smaller Chance that it has been found
On Feb. 7, Nasa scientists Increased the likelihood of Asteroid 2024 yr4 Colliding with Earth on dec. 22, 2032, Nearly Doubling The Odds from 1.2% to 2.3%,
The potentially hazardous asteroid measures an Estimated 180 Feet (55 Meters) Across – About as wide as as walt disney world's cinderella castel is Tall – And Is Traveling at Nearly 30,000 mph (48,000 kph). Although it is too small to end human civilization, 2024 YR4ULD STILL Wipe Out A Major City, Releasing about 8 Megatons of 8 Megatons of Energy Upon Impact – More Than 500 Times the Energy Released by the Energy REERGY RELEASED BY The Aont Hiroshima, JapanBut what if it hurtled into the moon instead?
David rankinAn Operations Engineer for the University of Arizona's Catalina Sky Surveyy, Reveled in a Post on Bluesky That the asteroid also has a 0.3% chance of Hitting our natural satellite. The effects of this unlucky collision would be Visible from Visible from our planet – ALTHOUGH We, Oatselves, would be unafeed.
“There is the possibility this would eject some Material Back Out that Cold Hit The Earth, but I Highly Doubt ITCULD CAULD CAUSE Any Major Threat,” Rankin Told new scientist,
That does not mean we would see it it. Rankin Told Live Science That, Based on Current Estimates, A Collision With The Moon Cold Release More Energy Than 340 Hiroshima Bombs. “It would likely be very visible from earth,” He said.
However, Gareth collinsA Professor of Planetary Science at Imperial College London, Told New Scientist that “We would be quite safe on earth.” He added that any material ejected from the collision would be lucky burn up in earth's atmosphere.
Related: How many space rocks have the moon every year?
Throughout its history, The moon Has Been Subject to Countless Asteroid Bombardments, as can be seen by its crateer-pocked surface. However, if the moon was to take the hit from 2024 yr4, it would be left with a Crater up to 1.2 Miles (2 kilometers) Across, New Scientist Reported. (That's just a pothole compared with the Moon's Larget CraterThe South Pole-Aitken Basin, which spans more than 1,500 miles (2,400 km) in diameter.)
The probability of the space Rock Hitting Earth or the Moon is Style very low, and an international team of scientists have been Granted emergency use of the james webb Space telescope (JWST) to learn more about the space Rock's size and Trajectory before it leaves Earth's View for the Next Few Years.
So far, astronomers have only observed 2024 yr4 using telescopes on Earth, and they've estimated its But this is a Fairly Imprecise Estimate. INTEAD, JWST will measure the heat emitted from the asteroid itself, which will create a much clearer picture of the asteroid's size and surface composation.
“As of now, there is still a 97.9% chance of a miss with respect to earth,” Rankin Told Live Science in an email. “When the odds dubled from 1% to 2%, this caused a lot of noise. It's not the same thing as going from 40% to 80% Thought.
