Asteroid’s odds of hitting the ground go up as webb telescope is tasked with studying potential “by-murderer”

An asteroid has a small chance of hitting the ground less than eight years from now, and astronomers get help from NASA’s James Webb room telosis to study it. Characterized as A potential “city-murderer”, “ The asteroid was first discovered in December and its odds of influencing our planet have risen slightly since then, according to European Space Agency.

Space Rock is formally called 2024 YR4. Researchers say it currently has a 2% risk of getting in touch with Earth when it eventually reaches this part of the Solar System on December 22, 2032. Although the asteroid is likely to pass by without problems they have for The task of monitoring its physical properties and the potential has changed up the likelihood of a crash since 2024 YR4 was originally discovered.

The European Space Agency in January placed the Asteroid’s odds to hit the ground at approx. 1%before Nasas Jet Propulsion Laboratory Estimated The risk looked more than 1.6% at the end of the month. Officials of both agencies recognize unlike in 2024 YR4, causing problems where ESA says the current risk assessments are probably unnecessarily high because the people who study it are still uncertain about some of the asteroid’s key functions.

Right now, astronomers estimate that the asteroid is between 40 meters and 90 meters wide, which is approx. 130 to 295 feet wide. As a reference, an American football field measures 100 meters – or 300 feet – long.

“It is very important that we improve our size estimates in 2024 years,” ESA said in a statement Monday, noting “the danger represented by a 40 m asteroid is very different from a 90 m asteroid.”

On the slim chance, the asteroid hits Earth in 2032, its effects would be located. But 2024 YR4 has nevertheless received a level 3 rating out of 10 on Turin Impact Hazard Scale, which is a fairly rare distinction intended to represent “a close meeting” that guarantees public and scientific attention.

“An asteroid of this size affects soil on average every few thousand years and can cause serious damage to a local region,” ESA said a previous statement about 2024 years.

If the asteroid hits the planet, NASA said its potential places of influence could include areas across the Eastern Pacific, North -Syd America, the Atlantic, Africa, the Arab Sea and South Asia.

CBS News Space Consultant Bill Harwood said that if it landed in a populated area, it would “really be disastrous” but the effects would be located.

“It wouldn’t be something like the rock that killed the dinosaurs,” Harwood said. “It would not affect the global climate, but it would definitely be a disaster in any share. So we all hope it will not happen.”

To gain a greater understanding of the asteroid and better prepare for what is to come, astronomers will use the webb -telescope to collect data on its size that could not be observed as exactly without the telescope’s technology, ESA said.

Where researchers are generally limited to observing the asteroid based on the amount of visible light it reflects from the sun, with lighter lights typically signalizing a larger asteroid, the webb telescope can calculate its infrared emissions, allowing for more accurate estimates .

Webb starts studying the asteroid in March, when it appears to be brightest and again in May, according to ESA. 2024 YR4 disappears from sight for a while after that, and astronomers will take time to interpret the telescope’s data and decide what it could mean for the asteroid’s route before it appears again in 2028.