A newly discovered asteroid wider than a football pitch could smash into Earth in less than a decade – and carries the highest risk of impact ever recorded by the European Space Agency.
The space rock, codenamed 2024 YR4, has a 1.2 per cent chance of colliding with Earth, and could strike our planet at 5.25am on Wednesday, 22 December 2032.
But Earth is working to defend itself – data shows that a sacrificial spacecraft impact could successfully deflect asteroids smaller than 1km in diameter, like Nasa’s recent Dart mission.
Ian Carnelli, a planetary defence expert at ESA, explained: “A kinetic impactor, a spacecraft, will be a lot more precise [than a nuclear bomb] because you can select the mass, the velocity and the direction of the impact; you can really control the deflection.”
The space rock, codenamed 2024 YR4, has a 1.2 per cent chance of colliding with Earth
ESA
According to Carnelli, a kinetic impactor spacecraft would weigh around two tonnes and require only basic equipment including solar panels and cameras.
This approach is considered easier, safer and quicker to implement than nuclear alternatives.
The asteroid was first spotted on Christmas Day by a telescope in Chile which specialises in identifying potentially hazardous space objects.
It measures between 40 and 100 metres wide, and is currently moving away from Earth at approximately 38,000mph.
The asteroid has been placed at the top of ESA’s official “asteroid risk list”, far exceeding the second-highest risk of 0.68 per cent.
LATEST SPACE NEWS:
The asteroid has been placed at the top of ESA’s official ‘asteroid risk list’
REUTERS
Scientists have rated it as level three on the Torino Impact Hazard Scale, the highest level for any asteroid currently being monitored.
Two international organisations have been activated to assess the potential threat and determine necessary actions.
Astronomers worldwide are now conducting additional observations to track the asteroid’s precise trajectory before it moves out of sight.
The ESA has stated it cannot yet determine where the asteroid might strike Earth.
Data shows that a sacrificial spacecraft impact could successfully deflect asteroids smaller than 1km in diameter, like Nasa’s recent Dart mission (pictured)
NASA VIA REUTERS
An asteroid of this size typically collides with Earth every few thousand years, and could lead to “significant loss of life” and property damage.
While an asteroid this size could cause severe damage, experts note that larger rocks over 1km wide – which could potentially cause global devastation – only hit Earth approximately every 700,000 years.
Scientists confirm that over 95 per cent of kilometre-sized asteroids are tracked and pose no current threat to Earth.