The risk that an increasingly ominous asteroid dubbed 2024 YR4 will crash into Earth in seven years now exceeds the the threat once posed by Apophis.

News broke last week that an asteroid could potentially collide with Earth in the next eight years. But what do you need to know about the space rock that astronomers say is capable of leveling a mid-sized city?

The asteroid, dubbed 2024 YR4, has a 2.3% chance of colliding with Earth on Dec. 22, 2032, according to a NASA update on Feb. 7. This probability of impact has increased since Jan. 29 when NASA observed that the asteroid had a little over 1% chance of impacting Earth.

An asteroid first observed in late December 2024 is on track to pass by or collide with Earth in December 2032.

The chances that an asteroid hits Earth in 2032 are now at their highest since the object was first discovered, according to NASA.

NASA has increased the chances of asteroid 2024 YR4 hitting Earth in 2032 to 1 in 32, or 3.1%, up from 1 in 42 as reported in previous calculations.

There is now a 1-in-32 chance that the space rock will hit us in 2032 – with potentially disastrous consequences