The small asteroid exploded when it entered Earth’s atmosphere and did not cause any damage.
On Tuesday, December 3, at 18:15 Kiev time, a small asteroid exploded in the sky over the Russian territory of Yakutia (formally known as the Republic of Sakha) and was discovered just a few hours before falling to Earth. This is the fourth such event in 2024, Space writes.
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An asteroid exploded over the Russian Federation: what is known
The European Space Agency issued a warning that an asteroid is expected to fall in Russia, namely northeastern Siberia, on Tuesday, December 3, at 11.27 Kiev time. The report stated that this asteroid, approximately 70 cm in size, will most likely not reach the Earth’s surface and will burn up in the atmosphere. A few hours ago, the asteroid, tentatively named C0WEPC5, was discovered for the first time by astronomers at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in the USA.
At approximately 18:15 Kiev time, residents of Yakutia observed a bright streak in the sky, followed by a bright flash of light as asteroid C0WEPC5 entered the Earth’s atmosphere at high speed as predicted and exploded. As residents of the Russian Federation have seen, such fireballs occur when small asteroids break into pieces as a result of an explosion due to friction as they enter the Earth’s atmosphere.
It is currently unknown whether any pieces of this space rock have fallen to Earth. Considering the asteroid’s size, it may have burned up completely in the atmosphere, leaving no debris behind. Sometimes after such events, fragments of an exploded asteroid are found after some time, but this happens very rarely.
Even if asteroid C0WEPC5 manages to pass through the atmosphere, which is almost impossible because it is so small, this rock will not cause significant damage.
Asteroids of different sizes approach the Earth every day, and therefore the European Space Agency and NASA, using special observation systems, constantly monitor the near-Earth space for the presence of the threat of asteroid falls. However, tens of thousands of small asteroids cannot be detected because they reflect very little sunlight. For this reason, some of the asteroids that fall on Earth are detected just a few hours before they hit our planet. This happened this time too.
Fourth such asteroid to fall to Earth in 2024
According to astrophysicist Richard Moissl, asteroid C0WEPC5 was the fourth space rock to hit Earth in 2024, but it was discovered only a few hours earlier. In the entire history of observations of near-Earth asteroids, this is already the 11th such event.
The first asteroid detected just before hitting Earth this year was a rock called 2024 BX1. The space rock, approximately 1 meter in size, burned up in Germany’s atmosphere in January. A second such asteroid, called 2024 RW1, exploded in the skies of the Philippines in September. The third case of the same asteroid falling to Earth occurred in October. Later, asteroid 2024 UQ was discovered just 2 hours before burning up in Hawaii’s atmosphere.
Not all of these asteroids are potentially hazardous according to NASA classification. For a space rock to be considered potentially dangerous, it must be at least 150 meters in size. However, scientists are observing thousands of such rocks in space, approaching 7.5 million kilometers from Earth. In this case, it is believed that any unforeseen event in space could change the flight path of a large asteroid and potentially hit Earth. So far, scientists’ calculations show that by the end of the 21st century not a single large asteroid capable of causing a catastrophe of a regional or planetary scale should fall on our planet.
However, small asteroids that do not even reach the planet’s surface continue to hit the Earth frequently.
To improve the detection of asteroids that may hit Earth, NASA will send the NEO Surveyor telescope into space in the near future. It will be able to detect even small rocks in space, meaning scientists can predict the fall of these rocks onto our planet much earlier.
As I already wrote FocusOn the morning of Wednesday, December 4, a potentially hazardous asteroid 2020 XR, approximately 450 meters wide, flew past the Earth.
Moreover Focus He wrote that the Webb Space Telescope discovered the 5 oldest galaxies in the Universe, 13.6 billion years old. There are probably older galaxies, but the most powerful space telescope has not yet been able to see them.
Source: Focus
Ashley Fitzgerald is an accomplished journalist in the field of technology. She currently works as a writer at 24 news breaker. With a deep understanding of the latest technology developments, Ashley’s writing provides readers with insightful analysis and unique perspectives on the industry.