Could hit us in 2032: Giant asteroid hurtles towards Earth!

Earth - Asteroid "2024 YR4" is on a collision course with Earth! The European Space Agency (ESA) cannot rule out the possibility of the lump hitting us in 2032.

ESA scientists are worried. The asteroid "2024 YR4", which was only discovered on December 27, is coming dangerously close to our Earth on December 22, 2032 and could actually hit us - it is still too early to say exactly where.

According to the space agency, the killer chunk is almost 100 meters long and 40 meters wide - about the size of an American football pitch.

The near-Earth asteroid was discovered with the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope in the Río Hurtado in Chile. The automatic asteroid warning system then triggered an alarm, it was reported.

An object of this size strikes the Earth on average every few thousand years and could cause serious damage, the scientists said. The object has been placed on the asteroid risk list and further research is required.

Nevertheless, the probability of "2024 YR4" hitting us is currently 1.2 percent. Nevertheless, the scientists are planning for the worst-case scenario.

The object is now rated 3 out of 10 on the Turin Scale for assessing dangers from space. This means that "2024 YR4" requires the attention of astronomers worldwide. An impact is possible.

On the other hand, a 10 on the scale introduced in 1999 stands for a certain impact that could "wipe out civilization as we know it". 0 means "no danger".

Because the asteroid's orbit around the sun is very elongated, it is currently moving away from us in an almost straight line. This would make it difficult to determine its orbit precisely, the ESA experts emphasize. "2024 YR4" could leave our field of vision before the impact risk is finally clarified - it would be visible again in 2028.

The scientists assure us that should the asteroid actually hit us, we would probably have enough time to plan a spaceship-based response to the potential killer from space.