Huge Asteroid We Almost Missed Is Coming for Earth

In December 2024, astronomers spotted an asteroid called 2024 YR4. Early calculations gave it a real chance of hitting Earth in 2032, and planetary defense teams around the world immediately started tracking it. The problem was that the asteroid is tiny, only about 200 feet across, which made it incredibly dim. It was reflecting about as much light as an almond placed as far away as the Moon, roughly 4 billion times fainter than the faintest star you can see with your own eyes. Only one telescope on the planet could see something that faint, and that was James Webb. Using two instruments at once, one to catch sunlight bouncing off the surface and another to measure heat, scientists were able to calculate its size directly instead of guessing.
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