Astronomers have recently increased the chances of a large asteroid striking Earth!
As per NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), the chances of an asteroid named 2024 YR striking Earth in 2032 are calculated to be 2.3%, or a 1-in-43 chance.
Just a week earlier, the European Space Agency (ESA) estimated a 1.3% chance of a collision on December 22 of that year.
An asteroid measuring up to 300 feet (90 meters) in width, is about the same size as the one that caused the Tunguska event in 1908.
Just before the new year, the asteroid was spotted by NASA-funded astronomers using a telescope in Chile.
The Tunguska asteroid caused a massive explosion that flattened around 830 square miles of forests.
Is this something to worry about?
While the asteroid has been placed at the top of risk lists in both the US and Europe, astronomers are advicing people not to worry.
The asteroid has been given a rare risk rating of three on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale, which measures the potential risk of an impact.
Researcher Molly Wasser said in a statement, noting, “There have been several objects in the past that have risen on the risk list and eventually dropped off as more data have come in.”
He added, “New observations may result in reassignment of this asteroid to zero as more data come in.”
