"An asteroid this size impacts Earth on average every few thousand years and could cause severe damage to a local region," the European Space Agency said.

The 2024 YR4 asteroid, which is nearly the size of a football field, now has roughly a 0.004% chance of hitting Earth in about eight years, according to the space agency's latest calculations. The Center for Near-Earth Object Studies previously projected a 3% chance of the asteroid striking our planet before lowering the chance to 0.28% last week.

The space rock caused quite a stir after astronomers first spotted it last year on a trajectory bringing it uncomfortably close to Earth in 2032.