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NASA confirms COWECP5 asteroid will produce harmless fireball over Siberia
NASA's Atlas detected asteroid COWECP5 just hours before its impact over Siberia, where it will burn up harmlessly.
In just a few hours, a recently found asteroid will approach Earth's atmosphere, the NASA said. Later on Wednesday, the space rock, known as COWECP5, will pass over eastern Russia after being detected by the space agency's detecting systems.
The tiny asteroid, which is only 27 inches in diametre, will safely burn up in Earth's atmosphere, scientists have verified, but they have reassured the public that it presents no threat.
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This week, two asteroid fly-bys are anticipated, this being the first.
The European Space Agency warned that the 27-inch asteroid will produce a visible fireball in the sky, but that "the impact will be harmless." The alarm was sent out at 4:27am ET.
Temporarily designated C0WEPC5, the asteroid has struck Earth, making it the 11th asteroid hit ever recorded and the fourth of the year.
Known as “imminent impactors”, detected hits are recognised by Arizona's Kitt Peak National Observatory, which detected the swift asteroid before it arrived.
Over Yakutia in northern Siberia, the space rock hit Earth's atmosphere around 11:15am ET, producing a huge fireball that locals saw, the agency said.
The brilliant and swift fireball can be seen shooting through the sky before fading in a video that was shared on social media on Tuesday.
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How much, if any, of the asteroid debris fell to Earth is yet unclear.
People within a few hundred miles of the entrance location will witness a breathtaking spectacle, according to Richard Moissl, head of the European Space Agency's planetary defence branch.
"It will be dark over the impact site and for several hundreds of kilometres around there'll be a very impressive, very bright fireball in the sky," stated Alan Fitzsimmons of Queen's University Belfast.
In an interview with New Scientist, Professor Fitzsimmons assured the audience that the asteroid is safe, saying, "It's a small one, but it will still be quite spectacular."
Win for Science
Fitzsimmons went on to say, "It's a win for science, and [for] anybody who happens to be in Siberia this evening," adding that it would be a pleasant diversion from "the no doubt quite chilly temperatures."
Since the asteroid would burn up entirely during entry, scientists have determined that evacuations are not necessary.
NASA's Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (Atlas), which is intended to give up to a week's notice of incoming space rocks, was the first to detect the asteroid.
However, in this instance, Atlas discovered COWECP5 only seven hours prior to the anticipated impact.
According to the organisation, there have been up to 36,000 asteroid fly-bys overall.
According to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2020 XR, another asteroid, will pass Earth on Wednesday at 12:27 a.m. ET, adding to this week's solar system display.
2020 XR, which is nearly 1,200 feet in diameter, or the height of the Empire State Building in New York City, is far larger than Tuesday's asteroid but will pass Earth at a safe distance of 1.37 million miles, according to NASA.
The enormous asteroid is not a threat and is unlikely to have any effect, but NASA labels any object that approaches Earth within 4.6 million miles as "potentially hazardous."
