|
Odds of the ''city-killing'' YR4 asteroid hitting Earth are up
 [NYPOST] NASA just increased the odds that ''city-killer'' asteroid YR4 2024 will strike our planet in 2032.The space agency claimed that the dangerous space rock now has a 1-in-38, or 2.6%, chance of hitting home — the highest probability of a collision yet, New Scientist has reported. When the asteroid was initially discovered in December 2024, the odds of a strike clocked in at 1-in-83, before increasing to 1-in-67, to 1-in-53, to 1-in-43 and now, the current frightening figure. Meanwhile, the European Space Agency's odds are slightly lower at around 2.4%. Since late January, NASA has designated YR4 a level three on the Torino Scale — a standard rubric for the danger of NEOs (Near Earth Objects) that measure over 65 feet in diameter and have a 1% or greater chance of deep impact. According to the scale, this asteroid is a ''close encounter, meriting attention by astronomers'' and boasts a ''1% or greater chance of collision capable of localized destruction.'' If Earth were to get rocked by YR4 — which measures between 131 and 295 feet in diameter — the resultant energy blast would be equivalent to 8 megatons of TNT, roughly 500 times the power of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, the Independent reported. Related: YR4 02/16/2025 Astronomer reveals when data on the orbit of asteroid 2024 YR4 will be available YR4 02/12/2025 Scientists warn of possible collision of asteroid 2024 YR4 with the Moon YR4 11/06/2024 Kenyan Jihadi is convicted of plotting a 9/11-style terror attack in America on behalf of al-Shabab Posted by: Fred 2025-02-19 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=741321 |