The 2024 YR4 asteroid, which threatened to collide towards the earth, might collide towards the moon | Science | EUROtoday

The 2024 YR4 asteroid, which threatened to collide towards the earth, might collide towards the moon | Science
 | EUROtoday

The asteroid that frightened humanity simply over a month in the past, reaching a chance of three.1% of colliding towards the earth in eight years, measures about 60 meters in size and will truly collide towards the moon, based on a brand new estimate of the principle area businesses. Astronomers first used the good James Webb telescope, the principle worldwide area observatory, to research the rock. Its preliminary outcomes rule out the influence towards the Earth, however counsel that the asteroid, known as 2024 YR4, has “about 2%” of ballots to crash towards the satellite tv for pc, as detailed by one of many co -author, Julia de León, which celebrates it from the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands.

“If it impacts the Moon it would not be dangerous for us, nothing would really happen, but it would be a great opportunity to see a lunar impact and its short -term consequences,” he says. “We already know that the moon is full of craters and we know that all the time collide very small objects on its surface, but we have never been able to see a collision of an object of more than 50 meters. It would be a pass,” says this 48 -year -old Canarian astronomer, contact level in Spain of the planetary protection technique of the European Space Agency (ESA).

The astronomer Julia de León, at the headquarters of the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands, in La Palma.

Asteroid 2024 YR4 was information worldwide firstly of February, when NASA and that alerted that this rock, between 40 and 90 meters, had greater than 2% prone to collide towards the earth on December 22, 2032. Space businesses have been calculating an growing threat for days, till many observations revealed that the probabilities are nimin Scientist dominated out the conflict towards the planet.

The new knowledge of the James Webb telescope enable to refine the dimensions of the asteroid, which is round 60 meters, above the 50 -meter restrict that robotically prompts the advisory group for the planning of area missions, a workforce organized by the United Nations to suggest plans able to diverting hazardous objects for humanity. “It is the threshold above which it can cause significant damage. With that size you can create damage to a radius of 80 to 100 kilometers,” he warns of León, which remembers the case of the asteroid of Cheliabinsk, a rock of 20 meters and 13,000 tons that no person noticed coming and hit the ambiance on that Russian area on February 15, 2013. Despite its small relative measurement, the one calculated that one equal to 35 atomic bombs of the dimensions of Hiroshima’s. The expansive wave broke the home windows of 1000’s of buildings and precipitated accidents to some 1,500 individuals.

The Community of Experts in Planetary Defense has gone from concern for a conflict towards Earth to pleasure for the opportunity of studying from a dwell collision towards the Moon. “Hopefully impact,” says De León. “We could track space telescopes and also from land. It would be very good, really,” he says. Your workforce will use the James Webb telescope once more in May to watch the asteroid and refine the chance of shock towards the moon.

https://elpais.com/ciencia/2025-03-31/el-asteroide-2024-yr4-que-amenazaba-con-chocar-contra-la-tierra-podria-colisionar-contra-la-luna.html