"An asteroid this size impacts Earth on average every few thousand years and could cause severe damage to a local region," the European Space Agency said.

Pop culture is rife with depictions of asteroids on a collision course with Earth. The idea of a celestial body heading right for us — and bringing catastrophe with it — has been used to tell stories that can be action-packed,

A dive into probabilities, asteroid impact modeling, and what sort of damage an approximately 180-foot asteroid could cause on Earth.

UN planetary defence organisations are closely monitoring an asteroid that has a tiny risk of hitting the Earth. The European Space Agency (ESA) has said that it has an almost 99% chance of safely passing Earth on 22 December 2032, but a possible impact "cannot yet be entirely ruled out".

Experts are tracking asteroid 2024 YR4, which has a 1.2% chance of impacting Earth in 2032. Observations continue to refine its path.

On Wednesday, an unprecedented memo from the International Asteroid Warning Network reached the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and from there winged across the planet to government officials.

Researchers say there’s a 1.3 percent chance that the space rock 2024 YR4 could strike our planet — but not until December 2032.

A colossal explosion in the sky, unleashing energy hundreds of times greater than the Hiroshima bomb. A blinding flash nearly as bright as the sun. Shockwaves powerful enough to flatten everything for miles.

A newly discovered asteroid has a tiny chance of smacking Earth in 2032, space agency officials said Wednesday. “We are not worried at all, because of this 99 percent chance it will miss,” said Paul Chodas,