India, Feb. 11 -- Scientists are using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to study an asteroid, dubbed as 'city-killer', that has a small chance of striking Earth less than eight years from now.

The space rock is formally named 2024 YR4. According to scientists, the asteroid currently carries a 2 per cent risk of making contact with Earth when it eventually reaches near it on December 22, 2032. While the odds of it crashing into the planet are minuscule, they have risen considerably since it was discovered late last year.

According to the European Space Agency, the odds stood at 1 per cent in January. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory raised the estimated risk to 1.6 percent towards the end of the same month.

Officials at both agencies a...