For all those doubters and pessimists who still were not sure whether Asteroid 2024 YR4 would crash on Earth, here is further proof that NASA had got its final calculations right, even if it was after quite a long period of uncertainty when it left things hanging, causing panic to spread across the world. According to the latest data collected by the Subaru Telescope, there is almost a zero chance that Asteroid 2024 YR4 will crash on Earth in the year 2024, with the month indicated as being December.
This asteroid that was dubbed as a NEO (near-Earth asteroid), had at one time 20% chance of colliding with the Earth. Then that was changed and NASA said it was around 3.1 per cent and thereafter 1.7%, before finally saying the risk was virtually zero.
However, to reassure everyone, NASA said it would deploy its most important and strategic instrument in space, the James Webb Space Telescope in March to check up on the asteroid and make a final decision as to whether it was heading for Earth, or not.
However, before that, the Subaru Telescope Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) tracked the asteroid and gauged its orbit before indicating there was no likelihood of it hitting Earth. The telescope's data shows the chances of a collision are down to a minuscule 0.004%
Asteroid 2024 YR4 was detected on Dec. 27, 2024 by NASA and thereafter, various reports appeared that suggested the space rock world crash on Earth. It quickly got listed on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale. It is a tool for categorizing potential Earth impact events and one of the biggest warning signs of a dangerous asteroid. And even the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) issued an alert about this asteroid.
However, NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and even the Japanese space agency (JAXA) carried out further research to accurately predict the asteroid's orbit.
Check out Asteroid 2024 YR4 image taken by NASA below:
This is the Asteroid 2024 YR4 image as tracked by NASA at various stages of its journey - in green circles. (Image Courtesy: NASA).
The Subaru Telescope is affiliated to the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ), National Institutes of Natural Sciences (NINS) and is based in Hilo, Hawaii, US. Notably, it is located on the summit region of Maunakea, a dormant volcano.
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