Scientists have spotted a skyscraper-sized asteroid heading towards Earth. Could it potentially collide with our planet?

A number of asteroids orbit around the Earth. Some of them fall onto the planet and remain barely noticed, while others pass by.

The asteroid YR4 from 2024 was discovered on Christmas by researchers from the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona. According to NASA, it is currently located 44 million kilometers away from Earth and is moving at a speed of 13.5 km/s.

This celestial object has been assigned a level three rating—the highest among all known potentially hazardous objects being monitored to date. The preliminary date for a possible collision is set for December 22, 2032, though the probability of impact is estimated at 1 in 83. The asteroid's dimensions are significant, ranging from 40 to 100 meters in diameter. For comparison, this is the height of a minimum 13-story building and a maximum of a 25-30 story structure.

The "risk corridor" for a collision spans areas from South America through Central Africa to India and Southeast Asia. The destructive potential of the asteroid will depend not only on its size but also on its composition. For context, the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs had a diameter of about 10-15 km. There remains a high level of uncertainty, and further observations are needed to better assess the risks.

Previously, "Telegraph" reported that scientists managed to obtain viable mouse pups from two dads. They were supposed to edit the cells of one of them.