A 70-centimeter (27-inch) asteroid lit up the sky over Yakutia, Russia a few minutes ago as it burned up in the atmosphere. Here's a video.
Alan Fitzsimmons, a professor who specializes in asteroid and cometary science at Queen's University in Belfast, spoke to New Scientist shortly before the asteroid arrived. "It's a small one, but it will still be quite spectacular," said Fitzsimmons. "It will be dark over the impact site, and for several hundreds of kilometers around there'll be a very impressive, very bright fireball in the sky."
Astronomers at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona detected the incoming asteroid just hours before it was due to enter Earth's atmosphere.
From Space.com:
The asteroid, which has the temporary designation C0WEPC5, has now become the 4th "imminent impactor" discovered in 2024, meaning an asteroid that was discovered within hours of its expected impact. It was only the 11th confirmed imminent impactor overall (a 12th one has yet to be confirmed, according to physicist Richard Moissl).
Previously:
• The Last Policeman: solving a murder before an asteroid wipes out life on Earth
• 71-meter asteroid to pass close to Earth tomorrow
• A video tour of the Bennu asteroid
• First asteroid found inside orbit of Venus: Caltech
