Asteroid 2024 years 4 certainly keeps NASA alert, since the threat of its potential to collide with the earth in 2032 continues to me-yo.
Only three days ago, the Space Agency announced that the now Note -piece of space rock had approximately 3 percent chance of colliding with our planet, but for Thursday that probability has decreased.
According to the Center for Earth's nearby objects (CNEs) of NASA, the risk of massive space, called “city murderer”, has now been fallen at approximately 1.5 percent.
The asteroid near Earth first reached the headlines last month, when NASA and the European Space Agency announced its existence and said it had a 1 percent probability of contacting our planet. The highest estimation of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, suggested a 3.1 percent probability The asteroid will hit the earth on December 22, 2032.
That increase briefly saw that 2024 years 4 became the most risky asteroid in the history of CNEOS Sentinel Risk Table.
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“An asteroid of this size affects the land on average every few thousand years and could cause severe damage to a local region,” said ESA in information on space safety. “As a result, the object rose to the top of the ESA Asteroid Risk List.”
Regarding the most recent fall in the risk of impact, NASA wrote: “The new observations of asteroid 2024 years 4 helped us Update your impact possibility in 2032. The current probability is 1.5%. ”
“Our understanding of the asteroid path improves with each observation. We will keep it informed, “said the agency, indicating that more updates will arrive.
The asteroid measures between 40 and 90 meters wide, according to estimates of its reflected light.
Scientists have said previously that they do not keep them awake at night and that no one should panic, despite not being able to rule out the possibility of an impact.
While experts are not sure where collision would happen, a warning published at the end of January by the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) said the Impact Risk Corridor It extends “through the Eastern Pacific Ocean, northern South America, the Atlantic Ocean, Africa, the Arabic Sea and South Asia.”
If the Earth attacked, 2024 years 4 would cause “severe explosion damage,” according to IAWN, which covers up to 50 kilometers from the impact site.
According to ESA, NASA and other space agencies will use the James Webb space telescope to continue obtaining a Even more precise evaluation The size of the asteroid to better understand “how significant it could be an impact.”
“It is very important that we improve our size estimate by 2024 years 4: the danger represented by an asteroid of 40 m is very different from that of an asteroid of 90 m,” says the report.
—With Katie Scott files from Global News'
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