Astrometric follow-up of near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4 during a Torino scale level 3 alert

TL;DR

This paper details the global astrometric follow-up efforts for asteroid 2024 YR4 during a high-impact threat alert, emphasizing data collection, international coordination, and impact prediction improvements.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive account of the international astrometric campaign and highlights the importance of coordinated efforts and data sharing in planetary defense.

Findings

Astrometric data refined the asteroid's orbit and impact risk assessment.

International collaboration was crucial for timely data collection and analysis.

Publicly available archives facilitated precovery searches, enhancing tracking accuracy.

Abstract

The discovery of 2024 YR4 presented the planetary defense community with the most significant impact threat in almost two decades, reaching level 3 on the Torino scale. The community, now mature and well-organized, responded with a global observational effort. Astrometric measurements, forming the basis for orbital refinement and impact prediction, were a central component of this response. In this paper, we present the astrometric data collected by the international community, from the time of discovery until the object became too faint for all existing observational assets, including JWST. We also discuss the coordination role played by the International Asteroid Warning Network, and the importance of publicly available image archives to enable precovery searches.