Asteroid 2024 YR4, which threatened to hit Earth, could collide with the Moon
A new observation estimates that the space rock measures 60 meters and has a 2% chance of impacting the satellite
The asteroid that frightened the world just over a month ago — after it was learned that it had a 3.1% chance of colliding with Earth within eight years — could actually collide with the Moon, according to a new estimate from major space agencies. Astronomers used the James Webb Telescope, the leading international space observatory, for the first time on March 26 to analyze the asteroid. The preliminary results rule out an impact with Earth but suggest that the asteroid, named 2024 YR4, has “about a 2%” chance of crashing into the Moon, according to one of the co-authors, Julia de León.
