Asteroid 2024 YR4, discovered in December 2024 by a telescope in Chile, is attracting particular attention from NASA and the European Space Agency. Its orbit could bring it dangerously close to Earth in December 2032, with a collision probability estimated at 1 in 83 – an unprecedented level of risk according to scientists.
This celestial object, with a diameter of between 40 and 100 meters, is traveling at 17 km/s and could, in the event of an impact, release a power equivalent to 8 megatons of TNT, causing an atmospheric explosion or a crater, depending on the angle and composition of the asteroid. For now, its orbit remains uncertain, and it could ultimately miss the Earth.
Observations are continuing, particularly next February, but experts estimate that we will have to wait until 2028 to refine the calculations and precisely assess the danger.
At the same time, NASA is exploring planetary defense solutions, such as its DART mission, which succeeded in 2022 in modifying the orbit of the asteroid Dimorphos by colliding with it.
While the risk remains low, 2024 YR4 remains one of the most closely monitored space objects to date. _VX
https://faxinfo.fr/en/astronomie-un-asteroide-sous-letroite-surveillance-de-la-nasa/
