"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.

New data shrank the odds that this asteroid will hit Earth, but astronomers will continue to study it. Here’s what you need to know.

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.