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60-meter-diameter asteroid has 4% chance of hitting the Moon in 2032

2025-04-04 20:18:02 / MISTERE&KURIOZITETE ALFA PRESS

60-meter-diameter asteroid has 4% chance of hitting the Moon in 2032

While NASA has ruled out any possibility of 2024 YR4 hitting Earth, new observations using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) show that the moon is still in the line of fire.

Researchers now say there is almost a 4% chance that this space rock the size of a 10-story building will collide with the moon.

New observations also show that the asteroid is even larger than previously thought.

Based on ground-based observations, space agencies had initially estimated that 2024 YR4 was about 40 meters in diameter.

However, new measurements show that the space rock is actually 60 meters in diameter, about the height of a 15-story building.

If an asteroid of this size were to hit Earth, it would unleash an explosion 500 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

After its discovery in December last year, the probability of a collision quickly rose to 3.1%, the highest odds ever recorded for a large asteroid.

At this size, if 2024 YR4 were still headed toward Earth, it would be enough to trigger action by the United Nations-backed Space Mission Planning Advisory Group.

This team would be responsible for determining whether a plan was needed to deflect the incoming asteroid and prevent a city-destroying collision.

While the chances of 2024 YR4 hitting Earth remain zero after these new observations, learning how to spot potentially dangerous objects could be key to humanity's survival in the future.

But if it hits the Moon in 2032, knowing the asteroid's exact size and composition could be a significant benefit to scientists around the world.

The explosion won't affect Earth, but it will be the first time scientists can watch an asteroid create a lunar crater in real time.

Data collected from this impact could help scientists understand more about other craters on the lunar surface.

 

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