It might not look like much in this image, but this is the asteroid that has made a major news impact in 2025. That's because this space rock, designated asteroid 2024 YR4, has a 1-in-48 chance of impacting Earth in 2032.
For obvious reasons, astronomers are desperate to learn as much as they can about 2024 YR4, estimated to be as large as 177 feet wide (54 meters wide). That's around as wide as Cinderella's Castle in Walt Disney World Florida is tall.
The image featured here was captured on Feb. 7, 2025 by the 8.1-meter Gemini South telescope that's located on Cerro Pachón, a mountain in the Chilean Andes. At the time the image was taken, the asteroid was around 37 million miles (59.5 million kilometers) from Earth and 130 million miles (209 million kilometers) from the sun.
