‘City Killer’ Asteroid Heading Toward Earth Came From an Unlikely Source

I’ve written quite a bit about 2024 YR4, the “City Killer” asteroid that was posing an ever-increasing threat to the Earth until it wasn’t anymore… but then suddenly posed a threat to the moon.

For as much as it captured our attention for about a month and a half, not much was known about where this asteroid even came from. Scientists are just starting to piece together that puzzle and suspect it might’ve come from an unlikely source.

Scientists now know that this slab of cosmic rock hails from the central part of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter—a place we didn’t think produced Earth-bound asteroids. Usually, Jupiter acts like the Solar System’s goalie, batting asteroids away from Earth.

But this time, it was one of those hockey goalies who scores a goal once every three seasons. Or it tried to, anyway.

Where Did the ‘City Killer’ Asteroid Come From?

Astronomers initially panicked when YR4 looked like it might swing by for a close encounter in 2032. While Earth’s safe for now, as previously mentioned, the Moon might get quite literally rocked instead, though the chances of even that happening are low.

Using the Keck and Gemini South telescopes in Hawaii, scientists dug into YR4’s data to find out more about its origin and potential trajectory. They discovered that it makes a complete rotation once every 20 minutes and has a “flattened, irregular shape” that, quite fittingly, given all my metaphors, makes it look like a hockey puck the size of a football field.

Unlike the soft, crumbly rocks we’ve tried deflecting before, this one’s going to take some real force if we ever need to push it off course. We may not have to for our sakes, but we might have to keep the moon in one piece should researchers start to believe it poses an immediate threat to the moon’s stability.

Luckily, our moon has clearly taken some licks before, and all it has to show for it is a bunch of scars that we can see with our naked eye from the Earth. It’s a tough rock. That said, Jupiter is no longer our friend, so please unfollow it on Instagram.