Asteroid 2024 YRâ‚„, shaped like a hockey puck, comes from an unexpected region
Although the danger to Earth has been averted, research interest in the asteroid 2024 YR4 has not yet dried up. Its shape has now been determined.
Artist's impression of 2024 YR4 in front of the moon.
(Image: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/R. Proctor)
Based on observations with one of the two Gemini observatories, a US research team has created a three-dimensional representation of the near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4 and also discovered that it probably originates from the asteroid belt. This was announced by the US research facility NOIRLab, which operates the observatories. It was also discovered that the asteroid rotates around itself quite quickly, once every 20 minutes. It still cannot be ruled out that the celestial body will hit the moon in 2032. Should this happen, it would be a unique opportunity to determine the connection between this size and that of the crater that forms.
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2024 YR4 was discovered on December 27, shortly after its recent rendezvous with Earth. Follow-up observations then revealed that an impact of the asteroid could not be ruled out during its next but one encounter. For several weeks, and thus for an unusually long time, the asteroid was therefore considered the most dangerous celestial body at the time. It was not until the end of February that the observation data showed that there was no danger to Earth. However, an impact on the moon cannot be ruled out. For this to be visible on Earth, however, a number of other factors would have to be really accurate.
(Image: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Zamani)
The new findings about 2024 YR4 now presented by Noirlab are based on further analyses that were initiated when an impact on Earth could not be completely ruled out. It was determined, for example, that it is probably a silicate-rich S asteroid, the second most common class of asteroid. The team also believes that it was probably pushed towards Earth from the inner asteroid belt by Jupiter's gravity. This is surprising because it was actually assumed that many near-Earth asteroids – i.e. asteroids that approach the Earth's orbit – originate from this region.
The observations with the southern of the two Gemini observatories located in Chile have also revealed that the asteroid is shaped more like a field hockey puck. This is surprising because most of them are shaped more like potatoes or toy spinning tops, explains research leader Bryce Bolin. However, the size is particularly important for the research, for which the team has determined a value between 30 and 65 meters. According to the James Webb space telescope, it is 60 meters tall. If it really does hit the moon, it would be possible to observe for the first time how the size of the resulting crater is related to this. The entire study is presented in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.
(mho)