"Asteroid 2024 YR4, a 220-foot (67m) 'city-killer', currently has a four per cent chance of hitting the moon on 22 December 2032. However, fresh observations could mean the odds of a collision rise to as high as 30 per cent. If the massive asteroid does hit the moon, it could carve out a 0.6-mile-wide crater and shower Earth with lunar shrapnel."
"Researchers predict there will be a slim window for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to observe the asteroid in February. This will be one of the last good chances to predict 2024 YR4's trajectory before it returns into view of Earth's telescopes in 2028. And, according to Dr Andrew Rivkin, of Johns Hopkins University, these observations could significantly change the odds of a lunar impact. That means the world's space agencies are rapidly running out of time to decide what they should do."
Asteroid 2024 YR4 is a 220-foot (67m) object with a current roughly four percent chance of impacting the Moon on 22 December 2032, which could create a 0.6-mile-wide crater and send lunar debris toward Earth. Fresh observations could raise lunar-impact odds to as high as 30 percent. The asteroid was discovered in December 2024 and briefly reached a one-in-32 chance of hitting Earth before that probability fell to almost zero. The object has been out of view of Earth telescopes since mid-2024. Brief JWST observations on February 18 and 26 offer one of the last opportunities to refine its trajectory before 2028.
Read at Mail Online
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