"Close Call: Earth's Encounter with Near-Earth Asteroid 2024 CY1"

A newly-discovered asteroid named 2024 CY1 passed within 75,278 miles of Earth, about 31 percent of the average distance between the moon and Earth, on Feb. 12. The asteroid was spotted just three days before its close approach using the Pan-STARRS 2 telescope in Hawaii. Measuring between 12.5 and 27.5 feet in diameter, the asteroid belongs to the Apollo group of near-Earth asteroids and poses no risk to Earth. Astronomers use instruments like Pan-STARRS 2 to track and calculate the orbits of such objects to determine potential close approaches to Earth.