The chances a ‘city killer’ asteroid will crash into Earth in seven years’ time have fallen, NASA has said. Scientists have kept an eye on the ‘near-Earth asteroid’, named 2024 YR4, as it has an orbit that brings it to our region of the solar system.

Thursday morning, NASA announced that the odds of impact have been reduced to .28%. Those odds had been as high as 3.1%, the highest risk level ever recorded for a near-Earth object. Scientists reduced the probability of a threat to Earth overnight on Thursday after additional observations of the asteroid.