An asteroid could strike Earth. How worried are we?

• A newly detected asteroid, 2024 YR4, has a greater than 1% chance of colliding with Earth in about eight years.

• The asteroid, estimated to be 40-90m wide, was first spotted on December 27, 2024, by the El Sauce Observatory in Chile.

• The International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN) issued a memo on January 29, stating a 1.6% chance of the asteroid hitting Earth on December 22, 2032.

• Potential impact sites include the eastern Pacific Ocean, northern South America, the Atlantic Ocean, Africa, the Arabian Sea, and South Asia.

• The asteroid follows a highly elliptical, four-year orbit, swinging through the inner planets before shooting past Mars and out toward Jupiter.

• The next close pass will not come until 2028.

• The asteroid is expected to blow up in the sky, exceeding 500-times the power of the Hiroshima bomb.

• The impact could potentially cause city-level devastation, but experts stress that there is plenty of time to prepare.