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NASA has minimised the chances of the “catastrophic” asteroid hitting Earth in 2032

The asteroid now has a 99.72% chance of passing within range of our planet

Newsroom February 21 11:59

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Updated estimates of the probability of the asteroid “2024 YR4” impacting Earth in 2032 have been released by NASA. According to the new calculations, the probability has been reduced to 1 in 360, down from the original 1 in 67. In other words, the asteroid has a 99.72% chance of passing within range of our planet.

The new estimates were based on new orbital data for the asteroid, estimated to be 55 meters wide, collected between February 18 and 20.

The drastic reduction in the impact risk for 2024 YR4 comes just days after its risk factor was raised to 1 in 32, or 3.1%. With that increase, the asteroid had become the most dangerous in the history of the Sentry Risk Table of NASA’s Center for the Study of Near-Earth Objects (CNEOS).

Now, however, with an impact risk of just 1 in 360, or 0.28%, the risk level of asteroid 2024 YR4 on the Torino scale – used to categorize how dangerous an asteroid is – is at 1.

A 1 on this scale indicates that “the likelihood of an impact is highly unlikely, with no reason for public attention or public concern.”

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“We’re not at 0 yet, but a 1 on the Torino scale tells us that new telescopic observations are very likely to lead to a redetermination at the 0 level,” Richard Binzel, the scale’s creator, told Space.com.

Despite the significant drop in impact risk, 2024 YR4 still tops NASA’s risk matrix. The next most dangerous asteroid on the table, 1950 DA, has just a 0.039% chance of colliding with Earth in 2880.

To gather more reliable data on the path of 2024 YR4 in our solar system, it may take some more time. The asteroid is currently moving away from Earth, but is due to return to our planet in 2028, to become visible again to ground-based telescopes.

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