April 20, 2025: Visiting Asteroid Donaldjohanson
NASA’s Lucy spacecraft successfully imaged asteroid 52246 Donaldjohanson on April 20, 2025, approaching within 600 miles (920 km). The asteroid, measuring 5 miles (8 km) long, exhibits a peanut shape indicative of an elongated contact binary. Images captured by the Lucy LOng Range Reconnaissance Imager (L’LORRII) revealed unexpected geological features, prompting further study.
2024 YR4 surpasses Apophis as ‘riskiest’ asteroid ever detected
2024 YR4 has surpassed Apophis as the riskiest asteroid detected, with a 2.8% impact probability on 22 December 2032. This marks the highest probability for asteroids over 30 meters. As observations improve, the uncertainty region shrinks, potentially increasing the impact probability further. The asteroid's orbit will be refined to assess future risks more accurately.