A newly discovered asteroid wider than a football pitch could smash into Earth in less than a decade - and carries the highest risk of impact ever recorded by the European Space Agency. The space rock,

NASA says there's a tiny chance it could collide with Earth, and it's much too soon to know where that impact could be.

YR4, the asteroid is estimated to be between 40 m and 100 m wide and is projected to come close to Earth in December 2032.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A newly discovered asteroid has a tiny chance of smacking Earth in 2032, space agency officials said Wednesday. Scientists put the odds of a strike at slightly more than 1%.

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 n asteroid discovered in 2024 has been placed at level 3 on the Torino impact scale, with a small chance of impact with Earth in 2032.

NASA and other space agencies are tracking 2024 YR4, a near-Earth asteroid with a small chance of impacting our planet in 2032.

"Impact probability is still very low, and the most likely outcome will be a close approaching rock that misses us."

An asteroid the size of a football pitch could hit the Earth in seven years, astronomers have warned. The rocky object, measuring between 40 and 100 metres wide, was spotted on Christmas Day by a telescope in Chile and is believed to have a 1.2% chance of hitting our planet.

A newly discovered asteroid has a tiny chance of striking Earth in 2032. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A newly discovered asteroid has a tiny chance of smacking Earth in 2032, space agency officials said Wednesday. Scientists put the odds of a strike at slightly more than 1%.

First spotted in December 2024 by a telescope in Chile, the near-Earth asteroid — designated 2024 YR4 — is estimated to be 130 to 330 feet (40 to 100 metres) across.