Webb Observations Rule Out 2032 Lunar Strike by Asteroid 2024 YR4

Overview

• Two James Webb NIRCam observations on February 18 and 26 detected the faint asteroid and provided high-precision position data.
• Updated calculations show 2024 YR4 will pass about 21,000 kilometers from the lunar surface in December 2032.
• Analyses by NASA’s CNEOS/JPL and the European Space Agency conclude there is no significant collision risk with Earth in 2032 or over the next century.
• The object, estimated at roughly 60 meters across, was discovered in late 2024 by an ATLAS observatory in Chile after early estimates suggested about a 4% chance of a lunar impact.
• Locating the asteroid required Gaia star-mapping and international coordination, and without Webb it likely would not have been observable again until around 2028.