A recent observation by the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) has significantly reduced the impact risk of asteroid 2024 YR4 on Earth in 2032. The asteroid, measuring around 131-295 feet wide, initially showed a high impact probability of over 3% before new data collected by the VLT brought it down to nearly zero.
The VLT’s precise observations allowed astronomers to accurately model the asteroid’s orbit and assess its trajectory. This has provided crucial insights into the asteroid’s movement away from Earth and its increasing faintness, making it challenging to study.
According to ESO astronomer Olivier Hainaut, “the narrower beam is now moving away from Earth,” referring to the beam of light emitted by the asteroid as it moves further into space. With a better understanding of the asteroid’s orbit, astronomers have all but ruled out an impact with Earth in 2032.
Source: https://www.space.com/asteroid-yr-2024-very-large-telescope