A small asteroid made headlines on Tuesday morning as it entered the atmosphere in northeastern Siberia, creating a visible fireball on its collision course with Earth. This event marks the first of two expected asteroid flybys this week.
The European Space Agency issued an alert at 4:27 a.m. ET regarding the 27-inch asteroid, noting that while it would generate a visible fireball, “the impact will be harmless.”
Temporarily designated C0WEPC5, the asteroid has become the fourth detected “imminent impactor” this year and only the 11th recorded strike in history. The Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona identified the fast-moving asteroid prior to its arrival. The asteroid entered Earth’s atmosphere at 11:15 a.m. ET over Yakutia in northeastern Siberia, producing a spectacular fireball witnessed by locals.
Video footage shared on social media showcased the bright, rapid fireball streaking across the sky before it vanished. It remains unclear how much, if any, of the asteroid debris made it to the Earth’s surface.
Asteroid flybys are commonplace, and advancements in technology have greatly improved astronomers’ ability to detect them. According to NASA, 132 asteroids have passed closer to Earth than the Moon since October 2023, contributing to a total of over 36,000 recorded asteroid flybys.
In addition, another asteroid, designated 2020 XR, is set to fly by Earth at 12:27 a.m. ET on Wednesday, per NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This larger asteroid, measuring approximately 1,200 feet in diameter—similar to the height of New York City’s Empire State Building—will safely pass at a distance of 1.37 million miles from Earth.
While this massive asteroid poses no threat, NASA categorizes any object that comes within 4.6 million miles of Earth as “potentially hazardous.”
Credit: ABC News
