Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Topics: World News, Space, Earth
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: World News, Space, Earth
A simulation video has revealed what could happen if the small chance asteroid '2024 YR4' could hit Earth actually comes true.
In December last year, NASA's Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Chile spotted the asteroid using advanced telescopes.
And given the slight chance of the asteroid hitting Earth in 2032 - and the subsequent damage it could cause - it's not being closely monitored by NASA. But what could actually happen should it not be stopped?
NASA's Planetary Defense details Asteroid 2024 YR4 as 'currently' measuring an estimated '130-300 feet across'.
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But what would actually happen should the asteroid make an impact with Earth?
Well, specialist 3D animator Alvaro Gracias Montoya - who works under the name MetaBallStudios - decided to create some visuals to see.
Well, it wouldn't be great, and that's to say the least.
The animation shows if the asteroid did strike Earth, it could devastate an area as large as Washington DC as a result of it unleashing energy measuring eight megatons - 500 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
Thankfully though, the probability of such an incident occurring is extremely slim, even Montoya noting: "I don't think it's going to happen, but certainly this kind of news generates a lot of speculation."
In January, experts had the probability of the asteroid hitting Earth at 1.2 percent - hardly anything to panic over however, it's now reported by Sky News as being around 2.3 percent.
NASA's Planetary Defense notes it will continue to monitor the asteroid, stating: "Ongoing observations from ground-based telescopes involved with the International Asteroid Warning Network will continue while the asteroid is still visible through April, after which it will be too faint to observe until around June 2028."
It added: "NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope will also observe the asteroid in March 2025 to better assess the asteroid’s size."
NASA resolves: "It is possible that asteroid 2024 YR4 will be ruled out as an impact hazard, as has happened with many other objects that have previously appeared on NASA’s asteroid risk list, maintained by NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies. It is also possible its impact probability will continue to rise. The latest data will continue to be made available via NASA’s automated Sentry page."