When a space rock the size of a small building gets a little too close for comfort, scientists everywhere pay attention. In late 2024, astronomers spotted a new asteroid named 2024 YR4. What ...

New insights from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) suggested that the asteroid may be on a crash trajectory with the Moon instead.

"An asteroid this size impacts Earth on average every few thousand years and could cause severe damage to a local region," the European Space Agency said.

The chances of asteroid 2024 YR4 colliding with Earth in 2032 hit a record high. Experts expect the risk percentage to fluctuate before likely dropping to zero. Here’s why.

Asteroid 2024 YR4 has a 2.8% to 3.1% chance of hitting Earth in 2032. Astronomers are tracking it to refine estimates of its size and orbit to see how much of a risk the space rock poses.

A “city killer” asteroid will likely spare Earth — but still has a chance of smashing into the Moon.

The odds that asteroid 2024 YR4 could hit Earth in 2032 recently spiked from a little more than 1% to 2.3% as more observations are made.

The head of planetary defense at the European Space Agency discusses 2024 YR4, an asteroid with a small chance of striking Earth eight years from now.

This asteroid might not hit Earth in 2032 after all—here’s how we know Space agencies have systems in place to spot, track, and forecast the future orbits of potentially hazardous asteroids.

The asteroid will zoom past Earth from just about 620,000 miles, or about 2.6 times the distance between Earth and the Moon, making its flyby from a close but safe distance.

An asteroid will come close enough to Earth to temporarily enter its orbit at the end of the month, a phenomenon dubbed as "mini-moon," according to astronomers.

When a space rock the size of a small building gets a little too close for comfort, scientists everywhere pay attention. In late 2024, astronomers spotted a new asteroid named 2024 YR4.