The wide 295-foot asteroid is likely heading towards Earth, but don’t run for cover yet.
The NASA-funded telescope in Rio Haltado, Chile, first spotted the asteroid, named 2024 YR4 on December 27th.
“Objects had a close approach to Earth,” according to the Center for Object Research near Earth, brightened enough to be detected in asteroid investigations.
Observations and data since the first sighting concluded that as of January 31, the asteroid was 30 million miles from Earth and would move further further along the orbital path around the Sun.
There is an over 1% chance that an asteroid will travel towards the site of collision with Earth on Earth in December 2032. However, scientists say they are hoping for future trajectories and probability of change for the asteroid as astronomers collect and analyze more data.
Why is this asteroid making headlines?
Davide Farnocchia, a navigation engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a nearby object research center, said he would identify asteroids whose path to Earth is not uncommon.
“If an asteroid is discovered, its trajectory is nearly computational and the possibility of a predicted collision with future Earth years may not be immediately ruled out,” Farnockia said. “When new observations are collected, the trajectory will be more accurate and the expected impacts may be generally ruled out.”
What sets the 2024 YR4 apart is that most asteroids are not more than 1% likely to make contact with Earth, particularly not “large enough to cause serious damage.”
“However, Farnocchia said, “It is overwhelmingly more likely that the 2024 YR4 will miss the Earth in 2032 than the impact.”
If the asteroid’s trajectory is unlikely to be headed towards Earth, its destination can be somewhere along the “risk corridor” that spans the Eastern Pacific Ocean, northern South America, the Atlantic Ocean, the Arabian Sea, and South Asia.
Astronomers report updates on future paths of asteroids and their probability of impact on Sentry web pages.
Should I worry?
Generally, asteroids are not something people should be overly concerned about, Farnockia said.
NASA has been working with international partners to investigate the skies for decades to identify asteroids.
“To date, most of the big asteroids that could cause devastating damage to Earth have been discovered, and they have been shown to pose no threat,” he said.
According to the US Geological Survey, asteroids travel from nearby orbits and outside solar systems to Earth, becoming metstones when they collide with Earth.
Small asteroids usually burn in the upper atmosphere before reaching the surface of the Earth and becoming a metstone.
According to the USGS, slightly larger asteroids can do it from the atmosphere, but often crash in places that cause minimal or immediate damage. Many met stones end up in the ocean or open areas.
What happens when an asteroid hits Earth?
Scientists are currently studying asteroids in our solar system and understand the possibility of collisions with Earth and what risks there are.
In 2021, scientists’ cooperation identified immediate effects of asteroids, such as “shock waves that can knock down forests and buildings, shock waves that can set fire to the surrounding environment, and tsunami waves due to the impact of the ocean.” The report has been released.
Long-term impacts include changes in ecosystem evolution. According to the report, “Naby soil increases stormwater runoff and changes the mechanisms of erosion in ecosystems. Dust from impacts and air bursts creates it in the atmosphere that affects the climate.”
According to the USGS, at the 1908 Tungska event in Siberia in 1908, the 213-foot meteor loft created bright nights in Europe and Asia, and bright days in Europe and Asia. I made a night.
Another notable event was the 2013 Chelyabinsk Meteor, 66 feet in diameter. Chelyabinsk caused minimal damage to the crashed area, but that entry produced an airburst.
According to the USGS, the air explosion “had caused about 1,500 injuries to people and created shock waves that have caused great damage to buildings and homes.” This event showed the wider dangers of larger meteors.
According to the USGS, the severity of an asteroid crash fall depends on the size and composition of the meteor.
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