What is Asteroid YR4?
YR4 is a near-Earth asteroid discovered in December 2024 using a telescope in Chile.
It orbits the sun and comes relatively close to Earth.
It is about 65 metres wide — roughly the size of a 10-storey building.
Initially, it was considered a potential threat to Earth due to its size and orbit.
Why Was There Concern?
NASA gave YR4 a 3.1% chance of hitting Earth in 2032, the highest alert ever issued for an asteroid.
Later, new data showed the chance of Earth impact was actually negligible.
However, there is still a small 3.8% chance it could hit the moon on December 22, 2032.
How Do Scientists Track These Asteroids?
Telescopes and algorithms spot moving objects in space and track their orbits.
More data helps improve accuracy — fewer observations mean more uncertainty.
NASA uses the Torino scale to rate threats; YR4 was rated 3 before being downgraded to 0.
What If It Hits the Moon?
It could create a huge crater, up to 2 km wide, with an explosion 340x stronger than the Hiroshima bomb.
If visible, it would appear as a bright flash; spacecraft like Chandrayaan-2 could observe it.
Earth faces similar threats, but the good news is — asteroid impacts are preventable with enough warning.
COMMENTS