Wed Feb 12 08:51:15 UTC 2025: ## James Webb Telescope to Observe Potentially Hazardous Asteroid
**Washington, D.C.** – NASA has deployed the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to study asteroid 2024 YR4, a space rock with a 2.3% chance of impacting Earth in December 2032. Discovered late last year, the asteroid, estimated to be between 40 and 90 meters in diameter, poses a significant threat, potentially causing an explosion equivalent to 15 megatons of TNT – 100 times the power of the Hiroshima bomb. While not an extinction-level event, the impact could be comparable to the 1908 Tunguska event, which devastated a large area of Siberia.
The JWST’s unique position in space, free from atmospheric interference, will allow for more precise measurements of the asteroid’s size and composition using infrared technology. Current estimates are uncertain, with the asteroid’s reflectivity affecting size estimations derived from ground-based telescopes. Accurate sizing is crucial, as a 40-meter asteroid presents a far different risk than a 90-meter one.
An international team of astronomers has been granted emergency access to the JWST for this crucial observation. The first observation window is scheduled for March 2025, when the asteroid will be at its brightest. A second observation will follow in May before the asteroid moves too far from the sun. Data collected by JWST will be vital in refining impact probability predictions and informing potential deflection strategies by NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and other international space agencies. The information gathered will be crucial in determining the necessary response to mitigate any potential threat.
First Piper 