US EditionNew data shows asteroid 2024 YR4 will narrowly miss the moon
The James Webb Space Telescope ruled out a 4.3% chance of asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting the Moon, confirming it will pass 14,229 miles away, protecting future lunar missions.
- Researchers using Webb reported that asteroid 2024 YR4 will pass about 14,229 miles from the Moon, ruling out a 4.3% impact chance.
- Discovered at the end of December 2024, asteroid 2024 YR4 once carried a 3.1% Earth-impact estimate and by June 2025 a 4.3% lunar-impact concern, prompting Webb observations.
- Using precise astrometry and timed exposures, Webb detected YR4—about 60 meters wide and 4 billion times fainter—during two five-hour windows identified by Dr. Artem Burdanov.
- That finding reduces risk by ruling out a lunar impact, lowering short-term hazards to astronauts, lunar infrastructure, and satellites, and demonstrates Webb's role with future space telescopes like Near-Earth Object Surveyor and Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.
- A paper will soon outline the techniques used, and NASA's Near-Earth Object Surveyor and Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope could help refine asteroid tracking.
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18 Articles
The possibility that a huge space rock — formerly considered “the most risky asteroid ever observed” — could impact the Moon seems to be discarded.
New measurements have significantly improved the accuracy of the asteroid's trajectory. The possibility that the huge YR4 asteroid would hit the Moon now seems practically impossible, reports CNN. This space rock was considered the most dangerous asteroid ever discovered. The asteroid, discovered in late December 2024, initially seemed like a serious threat to Earth. At the time, scientists estimated that the object could hit Earth on December 2…
Asteroid 2024 YR4 had a small chance of impacting the Moon and disrupting satellites. That small chance has been almost eliminated according to newer observations.
Fears that a 100-meter-wide asteroid could collide with the moon appear to have been unfounded, according to new observations. Asteroid 2024 YR4, discovered in December 2024, was briefly considered the “most dangerous asteroid” in decades, after scientists initially estimated it had a 3.1% chance of colliding with Earth in 2032. More careful observations quickly ruled out the “city-destroying” scenario, but astronomers estimated there was a 4.3%…
Breathe in space or rather on Earth: The asteroid 2024 YR4 will miss the moon. New data from the James Webb telescope give final warning for the year 2032, because there is now certainty about the trajectory. (Continue reading)
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