NASA's James Webb makes new revelation about 'city-killer' asteroid visiting in 2032

Scientists have finally seen what the "city-killer" asteroid 2024 YR4 looks like. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) took a peek at the asteroid scheduled to fly by Earth and Moon at an extremely close distance in 2032. It made the observations on March 26, watching the asteroid rotate once every 20 minutes over five hours. The asteroid was once predicted to smash into Earth, however, later, experts said that this might not be the case. Did JWST uncover any other secrets about the asteroid?

The space observatory looked at the building-size asteroid for the first time and a second round of viewing is scheduled for May this year. Ground telescopes had earlier zoomed in on the asteroid, but their observations were not fully correct. JWST found that it is rockier and larger than earlier estimates suggested. It also re-checked the possibility of asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting Earth in 2032.

Also Read: 'Once in 1,000 years...': NASA says asteroid 2024 YR4 can hit the Moon. Is Earth safe?

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Luckily, it confirmed what scientists say, that it is not a hazard to Earth and will safely pass by the planet. However, the Moon might not be able to escape the asteroid's wrath and is in the firing line. Scientists say there is a high likelihood of a direct collision between the two in 2032.

Researchers said in the preliminary report, "While an Earth impact by 2024 YR4 on December 22, 2032, has now been ruled out, it continues to have a non-zero probability of impacting the Moon at this time."

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JWST will look at the asteroid again in May 2025 to gain more information. This would be the last time astronomers would get a look at it before it vanishes from view for three years. It is moving away from Earth and will return only in 2028, leaving scientists with another four years before it makes a grand visit. While things might change during this time, experts aren't worried about any threat to Earth.

"City-killer" asteroid 2024 YR4

The asteroid was first noticed in December 2024. It sent a wave of fear among scientists who calculated its trajectory to collide with Earth's in 2032. Such a collision would hold a force equivalent to 500 Hiroshima bombs. At one point, it had a 3.1 per cent chance of crashing into Earth in 2032, the highest probability ever recorded for an object of this size.

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Later, the danger was downgraded, and the threat to Earth was nil. The European Space Agency (ESA) announced that JWST's emergency discretionary time was needed to learn in detail about the asteroid, leaving a tiny doubt in people's minds. JWST's infrared sensors can directly detect heat emitted by the asteroid as opposed to ground telescopes that can only observe sunlight reflected off of the asteroid's surface.

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"In general, the brighter the asteroid, the larger it is, but this relationship strongly depends on how reflective the asteroid's surface is," ESA officials wrote in a blog post.

Will asteroid hit Moon in 2032?

Scientists are watching the asteroid not only for the sake of Earth but also the Moon which appears on track for a collision with the asteroid. Report co-author Andrew Rivkin, an astronomer at Johns Hopkins University, told New Scientist that there is roughly a 2% chance that the asteroid will slam into the moon in 2032.