At the end of December astronomers discovered the Asteroid 2024 JR4. Because the originally calculated chance of a collision with our earth had to be increased from 1.2 to 2.3 percent, the cosmic chunk is now closely investigated with the “James Webb” space telescope.
The Asteroid 2024 VR4, which was found on December 27 with the help of a telescope of the asteroid warning system (Atlas) in Río Hurtado (Chile). It is between 40 and 100 meters long and, according to the European space agency ESA, is on a collision course with the earth on which it could take on December 22, 2032.
Currently is going away from the earth
The heavenly body is currently approximately 43 million kilometers away. In the coming months it will leave the earth and then not be seen for the time being. The Asteroid 2024 VR4 can only be again observed from 2028 – then the risk of an impact on our earth will be again evaluated.
In 2024 VR4, the ESA is currently leading to first place in asteroid threats. According to their information, an object of this size on earth only takes place every few thousand years. Under unfavorable circumstances, according to the researchers, such an impact can cause significant, regional destruction.
Serious regional damage when
However, the chance of collision of a still distant asteroid often falls to zero after further observations. If 2024 JR4 actually touches the earth, it can explode in the atmosphere and cause damage with a pressure wave and heat, it is said. A possible impact can cause a crater with a diameter of more than one kilometer and, according to experts, would lead to serious damage.
2024 JR4 is not like that -fair “Planet Killer” that could erase life on earth, the head of asteroid defense at ESA, Richard Moissl. “It’s no reason to worry,” said the scientist. “We assume that it will be a nearby or very close flight.”
Telescope 1.5 million kilometers from the earth
The “James Webb Space Telescope” (JWST, photo below), which was also built with Austrian participation, was brought into space in December 2021 after decades of preparations and some delay in the room. It is now more than a million kilometers from our earth.
The JWST investigates the early days of the Kosmos, only a few hundred million years after the big bang about 13.8 billion years ago. Astronomers promise conclusions about the formation of the first stars and galaxies that have been sent in space by the observatory. The telescope is also looking for the air for exoplanets.
Source: Krone
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