The chances of an asteroid as large as the width of an NFL field striking Earth continue to tick up, according to NASA.

The recently discovered Asteroid 2024 YR4 now has a 2.6% probability of impact, or 1 in 38 chance. That’s up from a 1.9% probability following and an initial 1% chance in late January. On the flip side, this means that there is a more than 97% chance the asteroid will whiz past Earth.

The celestial body is estimated to be between 130 and 300 feet wide and is expected to swing close to Earth on Dec. 22, 2032. The width of an NFL field from sideline to sideline is 160 feet.

The chances of an asteroid as large as the width of an NFL field striking Earth continue to tick up, according to NASA. The recently discovered Asteroid 2024 YR4 now has a 2.6% probability of impact, or 1 in 38 chance. The above image is an illustration. (iStock)

At Level 3, the scale suggests: “A close encounter, meriting attention by astronomers. Current calculations give a 1% or greater chance of collision capable of localized destruction. Most likely, new telescopic observations will lead to re-assignment to Level 0. Attention by public and by public officials is merited if the encounter is less than a decade away.”

The alert level is the second-highest recorded since 2004 when the asteroid Apophis reached Level 4, but additional observations later determined that its trajectory would cause it to pass Earth at a safe distance of around 20,000 miles in 2029.

However, experts say it’s way too soon to fret over this asteroid.

Orbit of 2024 YR4 with positions as of Jan. 31, 2025. (NASA)

“No one should be concerned that the impact probability is rising. This is the behavior our team expected,” Paul Chodas, director of NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, told the Associated Press. “To be clear, we expect the impact probability to drop to zero at some point.”

Asteroid 2024 YR4 was first reported to the Minor Planet Center, an international clearing house for small body positional measurements, by the NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in Chile on Dec. 27. ATLAS comprises several telescopes around the world and is managed by the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy.

Fox Weather and The Associated Press contributed to this report.