Asteroid detected heading for Earth burns up before impact
Technology
This is just the ninth asteroid that humankind has ever spotted before impact
(Web Desk) - A tiny asteroid headed for the Earth has burned up in a “spectacular fireball” over the Philippines, the European Space Agency (ESA) said.
The space rock, measuring only about a metre (3ft) in size, had eluded discovery and was spotted by research technologist Jacqueline Fazekas at Arizona’s Catalina Sky Survey only on Wednesday morning.
Labelled as 2024 RW1, the asteroid was predicted to burn up in the atmosphere, posing no risk to people on the ground.
Several agencies and amateur space observers, including Nasa’s Planetary Defense coordination office, confirmed that the harmless asteroid burned up over the Philippines around midnight.
But clearer weather ensured people near the Luzon Island in the Philippines could spot the burning space rock, with many sharing photos and videos of the spectacular event on social media.
“This is just the ninth asteroid that humankind has ever spotted before impact,” the ESA posted on X. Planetary defence systems to detect and track near-Earth asteroids posing potential risk to the planet have become a priority in recent times.
This asteroid wasn’t a risk. But if it was, a duck-and-cover warning was possible. Space agencies, including Nasa, are testing methods to tackle such life-threatening asteroids.
