An asteroid about the size of a refrigerator appeared a few hours before it hit the Earth’s atmosphere, and when it was not dangerous, it marked the fifth time in history that an asteroid hit our planet just before it hit.
On March 11, astronomer Krisztian Sarneczky spotted an asteroid at the Piszkéstető Observatory in Hungary. Sarneczky reported it to the Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union, confirming that it was the first time the asteroid had been observed.
NASA’s “Scout” system, which constantly searches the Minor Planet Center’s database for potential impacts, then calculates the asteroid’s orbit, and determines that the asteroid is sure to hit Earth. The system then reported to the Center for Near Earth Object Studies at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and other asteroid impact systems.
Fortunately for Earth, the asteroid, named 2022 EB5, was about 6½ feet long, a size “too small to pose a threat to Earth,” NASA said in a statement.
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The “scout” found that the asteroid entered the Earth’s atmosphere around Jan Mayen, a Norwegian island about 300 miles northeast of Iceland. At 17:23 EDT, two hours after the asteroid was first discovered by Sarneczky, the asteroid hit the Earth’s atmosphere, as predicted by the “Scout”.
It was the fifth time an asteroid was hit hours before Earth and the first time since 2019.
“Scout had only 14 observations over 40 minutes from an observatory to work with when he first identified the object as an impactor. We were able to determine the possible impact sites, which initially expanded from western Greenland to the coast of Norway. “, said the Scout. Davide Farnocchia, a navigation engineer who developed Scout. “As more observatories tracked the asteroid, our calculations of its trajectory and impact location became more accurate.”
The International Meteorological Organization said no meteorites were recovered from the asteroid, but some people in Iceland reported seeing bright lightning, proving that Space Rock became a fireball.
Paul Chodas, director of the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, said that asteroids like 2022 EB5 enter the Earth’s atmosphere every 10 months, but it is difficult to see one before it has already entered the atmosphere.
“Very few of these asteroids have actually been discovered in space and observed extensively before impact, mainly because they are very faint until the last hours, and a survey telescope just needs to detect the right place of the sky at the right time for an observation.” sot de Chodas.
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While this asteroid hit astronomers, there is no need to worry about a larger, catastrophic asteroid doing the same. NASA said larger asteroids are easier to see and can be found far in advance. The agency notes that this asteroid has shown that its systems can be highly precise in projecting the possible impact location of an object and help planetary defense systems to be fully prepared.
NASA tests its planetary defense systems when a dangerous asteroid ever threatens to hit Earth.
NASA launched the DART system in November, which hits Didymos’ asteroid moon in September, with the goal of determining whether a spacecraft and an asteroid could change course.
Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @ jordan_mendoza5.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The refrigerator-sized asteroid hit Earth two hours after it was discovered
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