At the end of 2024, astronomers detected an asteroid in the night sky. It was given the designation Y, since it was discovered in the last half of December, and R4 since it was the 117th rock to be found in the last couple of weeks of December,

A large asteroid dubbed 2024 YR4 now has a 2.2% chance of hitting the Earth on Dec. 22, 2032, according to NASA and the European Space Agency. That estimate, made Friday, works out to approximately a one-in-45 chance of direct impact, which also means a 44-in-45 chance of a miss.

YR4 has just above a 1% chance of crashing into Earth in 2032, which is why astronomers and space agencies are paying attention to it.

The chances that a space rock could hit Earth in less than a decade just went up slightly, according to NASA scientists. The asteroid 2024 YR4, which is expected to pass Earth in 2032, was recently calculated to have a 1-out-of-43 chance of striking our planet.

The near-earth object first discovered in 2024 has stirred up conversation on social media because of the potential for an impact.

YR4 now has a 2.3% chance of impacting Earth in 2032, prompting ongoing observations. Ground-based telescopes will track it until April, while NASA’s Webb Telescope will examine its size in 2025. New