CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–Astronomers led by an MIT professor have revised the scale used to assess the threat of asteroids and comets colliding with Earth to better communicate those risks with the public.

Whew. Earth has dodged an asteroid scare. Asteroid 2024 YR4 was looming large in humanity’s vision. At one point, it was calculated to have a roughly 3.1% chance of impacting Earth on Dec. 22, 2032.

One of the hardest things to calculate for an asteroid is its mass—but it is such a critical feature. It determines how much of an impact it would have if it hits something, or how many resources are ...

Asteroid 2024 YR4, measuring approximately 40 to 100 meters wide, will pass very close to Earth in December 2032—and might even strike the planet. Because of its size, speed, and the possibility of it ...

On April 13, 2029, a stony asteroid roughly the size of a cruise ship will sweep past Earth at a distance that once seemed ...

A near-Earth asteroid as wide as the Statue of Liberty is tall has been discovered that could strike Earth in 2032. It’s triggered a rare warning by the International Asteroid Warning Network, which ...

At this point in history, astronomers and engineers who grew up watching "Deep Impact" and "Armageddon," two movies about the destructive power of asteroid impacts, are likely in relatively high ...

Last week, NASA reported that a newly identified asteroid has a more than 1 percent chance of striking Earth in December 2032, per a statement released by the agency. Now, astronomers have bumped up ...

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