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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Science
Richard Luscombe

Asteroid’s chances of hitting Earth in 2032 just got higher – but don’t panic

Earth United States Colin Snodgrass NASA
Artwork of an asteroid hitting earth.
The asteroid, 2024 YR, is roughly the same size as the object that flattened a vast expanse of Siberia in 1908. Photograph: Andrzej Wojcicki/Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF

It might not be the world-ending apocalypse foretold in the Netflix drama Don’t Look Up, but astronomers have significantly upped the odds of a direct hit from a giant asteroid currently hurtling towards Earth.

According to Nasa’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies (Cneos), the odds of a strike in 2032 by the space rock that goes by the somewhat unassuming name 2024 YR are calculated to be 2.3% – a one-in-43 chance.

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