The asteroid entered Earth's atmosphere at 11:15 a.m. ET over Yakutia in northeastern Siberia, creating a massive fireball.

Summary

A 27-inch asteroid, C0WEPC5, entered Earth’s atmosphere over Siberia on Tuesday, creating a harmless but visible fireball.

This marked Earth’s fourth detected asteroid strike of the year and only the 11th “imminent impactor” ever recorded.

The asteroid was detected by the Kitt Peak National Observatory ahead of impact, showcasing advancements in asteroid detection.

Separately, a larger asteroid, 2020 XR, measuring 1,200 feet in diameter, will safely pass Earth on Wednesday at a distance of 1.37 million miles.

  • Threeme2189English
    111·
    17 hours ago

    What’s with the weird title?

    Doesn’t “Asteroid nearly hits Siberia” convey the information that an asteroid nearly hit earth?

    • BluesF@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      13 hours ago

      Neither really convey that it did hit Earth('s atmosphere) and just burned up harmlessly. The title reads like it missed, in which case it doesn’t make much sense to me to mention Siberia at all.