NASA Confirms: Former Earth-Threatening Asteroid Now Set 2024 YR4 to Hit Moon in 2032

New Delhi: NASA confirmed that the asteroid 2024 YR4, last year, was expected to possibly hit the Earth and is now in a buzz to threaten the Moon in 2032. The asteroid is approximately the size of a 10-story building, discovered last year as per the reports

In the previous year, the asteroid’s movement was not visible from Earth as it was too distant for telescopes. However, with the help of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the observation was done before the asteroid disappeared in orbit around the Sun.

The additional refinement in the observation of the asteroid’s orbit was done at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, from NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Objects (NEO).

The experts have estimated a minute possibility of the asteroid’s impact on the Moon, from 3.8% to 4.3%. The space agency further mentioned that there’s a very low chance the asteroid will impact Earth and that it would not alter the Moon’s orbit as well.

The data from the observation done by the James Webb Telescope revealed that the precise location of the asteroid on December 22, 2032, has been improved nearly by 20 percent.

According to astronomer Pawan Kumar, a former researcher at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics in Bengaluru, in a publication, the Moon is indeed safe.

He further said that the collision with the Moon “won’t be a cause for concern,” as any Moon debris blasted into space from the impact “would blow up in Earth’s atmosphere if any of it makes it to near-Earth space.”

As of now, the space agency is continuously monitoring and tracking the ongoing asteroid risk. The researchers are also observing its orbital characteristics to better understand its potential trajectory.