Asteroid That Threatened Earth Shaped Like a Saucer, Scientists Find With Large Telescope

After taking another peek at the "city-killer" asteroid that once had a small but uncomfortable chance of smashing into our planet, astronomers have figured out what it actually looks like: a flat, spinning disk. The preferred analogy has been to compare the shape to a hockey puck. To us, this sounds like a huge missed opportunity to say that the Earth was — however briefly — under threat by a literal flying saucer, just like in that one movie. The findings come from a preprint study, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Using the Gemini South Observatory in Chile, the astronomers imaged the roughly 200-foot asteroid, 2024 YR4, in multiple wavelengths, revealing that it was rapidly rotating once every 20 minutes, in addition to its unusual UFO-like appearance. "This find was rather unexpected since most asteroids are thought to be shaped like potatoes or toy tops rather than flat disks," lead author Bryce Bolin from Eureka Scientific said in a statement abo ... Read full article.