14.02.2025 15:40
Experts are warning about an asteroid referred to as a "city killer" that has a possibility of colliding with Earth in 2032. The asteroid, named 2024 YR4, has only a 2.3% chance of impact, yet it has prompted space agencies to take preventive measures.
Experts calculate that the likelihood of an asteroid, dubbed a "city killer," striking Earth in 2032 is 1 in 43. The asteroid named 2024 YR4 has only a 2.3% chance of impact, yet it has prompted space agencies to take preventive measures.
According to astronomers, this space rock, which is between 40 and 90 meters (130-295 feet) wide, could create a city-sized crater in the Earth's crust. If this cosmic debris enters a collision course with our planet, it could pierce the atmosphere at a speed of 38,000 miles per hour.
This collision could release energy equivalent to that of 100 nuclear bombs. A video prepared by 3D expert Alvaro Gracia Montoya at MetaBallStudios shows how the impact could obliterate an entire city.
Fortunately, the likelihood of Asteroid 2024 YR4 passing safely by our planet is 97.7%. NASA and European Space Agency experts will closely monitor this near-Earth asteroid using the James Webb Space Telescope in the coming weeks.
After March, the space rock will exit the field of view and will not be visible again until 2028.
The last asteroid to strike Earth in the past 115 years was a 40-meter-wide space rock that exploded over Siberia. In an event known as the Tunguska Event, witnesses reported seeing a large fireball in the sky and hearing a loud explosion.
66 million years ago, a giant asteroid measuring 10-15 kilometers wide struck the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, causing a planetary catastrophe that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs.