Scientists have excluded that the asteroid YR4, whose probability of impact reached 3 % at the beginning of the month, could harm the earth.
Scientists almost completely dismissed the threat of an asteroid who, according to them, could strike the earth in one of its most populated regions in 2032.
The probability of a collision with the YR4 asteroid recently discovered by the Chilean station of the Asteroid Terresrial-Impact Last Alert System (Atlas) on December 27 reached 3 % and figured for a few days at the top of the global risk lists linked to asteroids. Scientists had indeed classified it in the 3rd level of the Turin scale.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has since lowered this probability to 0.001 %.
The American space agency, NASA, brought it back to 0.0017 %, which means that the asteroid will pass without incident in front of the earth in 2032 and that there will be no risk of impact during of the next century.
Paul Chodaswho directs the Center for the Study of objects close to the land of NASA, (Neo) told the Associated Press that there was no chance that the probabilities increase at this stage and that an impact in 2032 had been excluded.
“”It is the result we have been waiting for from the start, even if we could not be 100 % sure that he would occur “He said.
According to NASA, there is still 1.7 % chance that the asteroid collided with the moon on December 22, 2032, but Mr. Chodas expects that these chances are also annoying.
Telescopes around the world will continue to follow the asteroid that moves away from us. Next month, the webb space telescope will be zoomed in on the asteroid to determine the size with precision. We expect it to disappear within a month or two.
Discovered in December, the asteroid has an estimated diameter between 40 and 90 meters and moves away from the earth every four years.
“Although this asteroid no longer presents the risk of significant impact for the earth, 2024 YR4 has provided an invaluable opportunity“To study it, said NASA in a statement.
