Scientists have recently discovered an asteroid that is currently on a path towards Earth, and the 196-foot wide space rock could level an entire city if it happened to collide with our planet.
Discovered by NASA’s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, 2024 YR4 is an otherwise innocuous asteroid that has gained significant interest due to it’s likely path towards Earth.
Unlike other asteroids that hold information that could help understand the origins of the universe or give everyone on the planet a lot of money, this particular chunk of space rock has become famous for all of the wrong reasons.
Travelling asteroids always pose the threat of impact if they are on a path towards Earth (Getty Stock)
Experts indicate that it has around a one-in-83 chance to hit Earth, as reported by Indy 100, and it’s current trajectory and speed have many predict that it’d reach our planet by around 2032 – less than a decade from now.
This is due to the fact that it’s around 27 million miles away right now, and while that might seem like something we don’t need to worry about in our lifetime, the speed of travelling asteroids makes the distance capable in a relatively short period of time.
On top of this, while 2024 YR4 is ‘only’ around 60 meters wide, the speed at which it would strike Earth makes it capable of wiping out an entire city, which would be incredibly devastating and an unprecedented disaster.
Thankfully NASA have issued a statement attempting to quell the fears of anyone foreseeing a doomsday situation on the horizon, advising that it’s not something that they’re particularly worried about.
As per LADBible, Paul Chodas, director at NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies has outlined: “We are not worried at all because of this 99 percent chance it will miss. But it deserves attention.”
This is certainly calming to hear, especially considering the fact that they’re still paying it close attention – although the close shave and persisting chance, even if it remains incredibly small, can still worry the anxious few.
While there is a 99% chance it’ll avoid Earth, 2024 YR4’s impact would be devastating (Getty Stock)
It has also been indicated that the ‘risk corridor’ of impact, otherwise known as the area that 2024 YR4 would likely hit, is around the area from South America to sub-Saharan Africa, across the Atlantic Ocean.
Catalina Sky Survey engineer David Rankin has outlined to Space the various different factors that are important to consider alongside the asteroid’s current orbit, as they play a vital factor in how it would potentially strike Earth.
“If [2024 YR4] is made of stony material, it could cause a significant air burst and fireball reaching the ground. If made of iron, it will punch right through the atmosphere with little trouble and make an impact crater.”
This could dramatically change the response needed to deal with the asteroid if it were to hit Earth, and it’s only something that we’ll know once it gets closer and thus easier to study.
Featured Image Credit: Maciej Frolow / Getty
NASA shares crucial message as asteroid that ‘could wipe out a major city’ could hit Earth
There’s a 1-in-83 chance it could hit Earth
NASA scientists have just discovered a massive space rock that could collide with Earth – and take out a major city in the process.
The asteroid named 2024 YR4 was detected on December 27, 2024 by NASA’s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS).
According to the space experts, there’s a 1-in-83 chance that 2024 YR4 could strike our planet in 2032.
Those chances might not sound like a lot but it’s enough to keep the scientists on alert.
What’s worrying is that, whilst the impact won’t be enough to wipe out human civilisation, it could wipe out a major city.
2024 YR4 is around 180 feet (55 metres) across and scientists estimate that it would release about 8 megatons of energy upon impact. This is more than 500 times the power of the Hiroshima atomic bomb.
STEFANI REYNOLDS / Contributor / Getty
Right now, 2024 YR4 is moving away from Earth, but it’s not gone for good.
NASA expects the asteroid will pass our planet multiple times in the next half-century – with its next close encounter in late 2028.
After that, it will have six more close approaches between 2032 and 2074, with the December 22, 2032 encounter being the riskiest, NASA added.
Even though 2024 YR4 has been orbiting the Sun for ages, it was only recently detected because of its unusual path.
The asteroid travels in an elongated orbit, looping past Earth before swinging way out between Mars and Jupiter, explained Kelly Fast, a planetary defence officer at NASA.
“In the past, even though it’s passed through the inner solar system before, it didn’t always pass by where the Earth happened to be, where it could be picked up easily,” she said.
The giant asteroid Vesta studied by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft / Universal History Archive / Contributor / Getty
Astronomers monitoring the ATLAS telescope at the University of Hawaii first spotted the asteroid as it was moving away from Earth and immediately reported it to the International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center.
Now, the US space agency has placed 2024 YR4 at Level 3 on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale – a system used to rate asteroid threats.
This threat level means that ‘attention by public and by public officials is merited if the encounter is less than a decade away.’
However, most asteroids at this level end up being downgraded to Level 0, meaning ‘the likelihood of a collision is zero, or is so low as to be effectively zero.’ In the meantime, NASA and other space agencies are working on asteroid deflection techniques to try to alter the asteroid’s path if needed.
Featured Image Credit: Science Photo Library – ANDRZEJ WOJCICKI / Getty
New NASA photo showing the Moon crossing Earth is so unbelievable people are convinced it’s fake
The image captured the dark side of the moon
A new NASA photo which shows the moon crossing past Earth is so unbelievable that people are convinced it is fake.
The space agency shared an animation of the event, which they explained was used with ‘actual satellite images’.
The images were captured by a NASA camera that is aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite as the moon ‘moved in front of the sunlit side of Earth last month’.
The images revealed a fully illuminated ‘dark side’ of the moon that is never visible from Earth.
NASA captured the image of the dark side of the moon (NASA/NOAA)
On the NASA website, it explained: “The images were captured by NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC), a four megapixel CCD camera and telescope on the DSCOVR satellite orbiting 1 million miles from Earth.
“From its position between the sun and Earth, DSCOVR conducts its primary mission of real-time solar wind monitoring for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).”
The image has since been shared on social media which many have found to be so unbelievable that some are convinced it is actually fake.
One user took to X, formerly Twitter, to post the photo, adding a caption which read: “From a million miles away, NASA camera captured moon crossing face of Earth (Yes, it’s real).”
This sparked a lot of responses from others, with many being quick to question whether the image was real or not.
Another user wrote: “FAAAKE NEWS.”
A third commented: “Naw…this gotta be fake…whats up with the green on right side of moon…and how can we see the moon at all what flash works from a million miles away…”
Replying to @AMAZlNGNATURE
naw…this gotta be fake…whats up with the green on right side of moon…and how can we see the moon at all what flash works from a million miles away…
127
Reply
However, a fourth responded with: “If it’s fake they had to intentionally add the green, otherwise there’s no way it would be there. So if you think it’s fake what reason did they add the green there? why wouldn’t they just leave it off?”
The cause of this controversy appears to stem from a thin green line that is visible next to the moon.
However, the still image posted on X is from a moving animation created by NASA, which could explain the line.
On the NASA website, it continued: “These images were taken between 3:50 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. EDT on July 16, showing the moon moving over the Pacific Ocean near North America. The North Pole is in the upper left corner of the image. It is in the original orientation as taken by the spacecraft.”
Featured Image Credit: Smartshots International/Getty Images/NASA/NOAA
NASA close to reaching asteroid worth $100,000,000,000,000 that could make everyone on Earth a billionaire
Scientists estimate that the vessel should reach the asteroid by 2029
An asteroid buried deep in space has a mind boggling value of $10,000 quadrillion and NASA is closer than ever to reaching it.
Nestled between Mars and Jupiter lies a metal rich asteroid which scientists reckon is packed with iron, nickel and gold.
It’s name is 16 Psyche and scientists are determined to reach it (and soon) with a mission of the same name, Psyche.
The Psyche spacecraft is currently on its long journey to the metal-rich asteroid after launching from Kennedy Space Center in Florida back in October 2023. It’s objective, according to NASA, is to ‘visit an unexplored type of world’.
16 Psyche is buried deep in space (Rubin/NASA/JPL-Caltech / NASA)
According to NASA, the asteroid measures in at a staggering 173 miles (280 km) across and 144 miles (232 km) long, while its surface area is 64,000 square miles (165,800 square km).
“Psyche is by far the largest, and that’s why we want to go to it,” Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s science mission directorate, told Space.com.
“Because the smaller ones are more likely to have been changed by things impacting them, whereas the big one, we think, is going to be completely unchanged.”
Unfortunately it’s no easy feat to reach the asteroid. It’s a whopping 2.2 billion miles (3.5 billion km) through space.
According to NASA, for the next year ‘the spacecraft will be in what mission planners call “full cruise” mode”‘ as it journeys toward the asteroid belt.
-min.jpg)
NASA are set to reach the asteroid by 2029 (Jonathan Knowles via Getty)
A post from May of this year said that the orbiter is currently over 190 million miles (300 million km) away and is moving at a speed of 23 miles per second (37 km per second). Eventually, once there is no ‘atmospheric drag’ to hold it back, the vessel will reach speeds of up to 124,000 mph (200,000 kph).
When it comes to that whopping estimated value, if NASA were to successfully mine the asteroid and bring it back to Earth, every person on the planet would essentially be made billionaires — just to put into perspective how much this asteroid is really worth.
If everything goes according to plan the spacecraft will reach 16 Psyche in late July 2029, beginning its ‘prime mission’ of collecting data and pictures in August.
From there, the vessel is programmed to head to Mars, where it will obtain a gravity assist to boost its momentum for its ultimate journey back to Earth.
NASA estimates the mission will conclude in November 2013, so stay tuned for a historic month.
Featured Image Credit: Maxar/ASU/P. Rubin/NASA/JPL-Caltech / NASA
Scientists issue stark warning after discovering ‘asteroid’ nearing Earth is actually Elon Musk’s car
Astronomers deleted the observation from their records
Astronomers have mistaken SpaceX’s car in space for a new asteroid, issuing a warning.
On January 2, the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center announced what they thought was a new Near-Earth Object (NEO). It was dubbed 2018 CN41.
To qualify as a NEO, the object has to orbit less than 240,000 kilometres (150,000 miles) from Earth – closer than the Moon – and have the potential to one day hit Earth.
Spotted by an amateur astronomer in Turkey, the object had an eccentric orbit and seemed to fit the profile of an asteroid.
Handout / Handout / Getty
However, a team member realised the object’s orbit matched that of ‘2018-017A’ – an artificial object already known to scientists.
And, less than 17 hours after the announcement, the Minor Planet Center said it was deleting 2018 CN41 from its records.
Turns out, the object was nothing other than a Tesla Roadster which was attached to Spacex’s Falcon Heavy rocket back in 2018 and blasted off to space.
The Roadster, which had been owned and driven by Musk, was launched as part of a publicity stunt while the Falcon Heavy was being tested.
“The designation 2018 CN41, announced in MPEC 2025-A38 on Jan 2, 2025 UT, is being deleted,” the Minor Planet Center stated. “The object was reported through the identifications pipeline as a 3-nighter linkage found in the isolated tracklet file and more tracklets were linked in the ITF, leading to a small object on a heliocentric NEO orbit.”
They added: “The next day it was pointed out the orbit matches an artificial object 2018-017A, Falcon Heavy Upper stage with the Tesla roadster. The designation 2018 CN41 is being deleted and will be listed as omitted.”
Pascal Le Segretain / Staff / Getty
Now, the car orbits the Sun with a mannequin in a spacesuit named Starman behind the wheel.
Astronomers are voicing the problem related to the growing number of untracked objects in space, issuing a stark warning over the object once thought to be an ‘asteroid’.
“Worst case, you spend a billion launching a space probe to study an asteroid and only realize it’s not an asteroid when you get there,” said astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell.
Scientists estimate there’s a 22% chance the Tesla vehicle could collide with Earth and a 12% chance of hitting Venus or the Sun. Thankfully, any such impact is likely millions of years away so Elon won’t have to worry about the event affecting Tesla stock anytime soon.
The Roadster will make another close approach to Earth in 2047, passing within 5 million kilometres (3.1 million miles).
