@NASAWebb on asteroid 2024 YR4

Webb may showcase the beauty of deep space objects, but it also plays a strong role in planetary defense applications. Using Webb observations, experts accurately measured the size and orbit of asteroid 2024 YR4 and confirmed it will not impact our Moon in 2032. Show more

$The image is a pixelized graph of mostly black, gray, and white squares with the y-axis labelled as \u201CY (pixel)\u201D and the x-axis labeled a\u201DX (pixel)\u201D with a scale of 0 to 70 on each axis, with a marking at multiples of 10. A legend defining the colors from black through various gray shades to white has a scale of 0.0 at the black end of the scale and 0.5 at the white end of the scale with markings at each one-tenth. The legend scale is labelled \u201CFlux (nJy)\u201D Near the center of the image is a dashed green circle surrounding nearly white pixels. A red circle is higher on the graph by just more than 20 units and a few units to the right; the red circle is surrounding a black and slightly gray section. The graph has a legend for the green circle of \"Observed position of 2024YR4\" and a legend for the red circle of \"Position assuming lunar impact.\"$

8:55 PM · Mar 6, 2026

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Webb may showcase the beauty of deep space objects, but it also plays a strong role in planetary defense applications. Using Webb observations, experts accurately measured the size and orbit of asteroid 2024 YR4 and confirmed it will not impact our Moon in 2032. Show more

$The image is a pixelized graph of mostly black, gray, and white squares with the y-axis labelled as \u201CY (pixel)\u201D and the x-axis labeled a\u201DX (pixel)\u201D with a scale of 0 to 70 on each axis, with a marking at multiples of 10. A legend defining the colors from black through various gray shades to white has a scale of 0.0 at the black end of the scale and 0.5 at the white end of the scale with markings at each one-tenth. The legend scale is labelled \u201CFlux (nJy)\u201D Near the center of the image is a dashed green circle surrounding nearly white pixels. A red circle is higher on the graph by just more than 20 units and a few units to the right; the red circle is surrounding a black and slightly gray section. The graph has a legend for the green circle of \"Observed position of 2024YR4\" and a legend for the red circle of \"Position assuming lunar impact.\"$

8:55 PM · Mar 6, 2026

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