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An asteroid hit Earth right after being spotted by telescope this week
An asteroid the size of a refrigerator was spotted by telescopes in Hawaii on Saturday, just before it collided with Earth's atmosphere and burned as a fireball in the sky due south of Puerto Rico. The harmless space rock, officially named 2019 MO, never had a chance of making it to the ground or doing much damage, as it was only about a tenth the size of the bolide that exploded in the atmosphere over Russia in 2013.
According to fireball and bolide data from NASA, our atmosphere is struck by a meteor this size or larger roughly once a year.
What's most interesting about 2019 MO, though, is the fact that it was spotted by telescopes beforehand. That's only happened four times in history, according to Italian amateur astronomer Ernesto Guido.
The other three times all happened in the last 12 years, including asteroid 2018 LA that made it all the way to the ground in Africa.
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To date, astronomers have predicted 7 asteroid impacts in advance of their collision with Earth (and another 2 unconfirmed). 2023 CX1 was an approximately meter-sized asteroid discovered on February 12 by Krisztián Sárneczky. Observatories announced its impending strike a few hours in advance, giving photographers a chance to aim their cameras at the expected landing site in Normandy, France:
Dramatic footage of the meteoroid was captured on multiple cameras, with the event even being picked up by a police car in England. It is just the seventh time space agencies have been able to forewarn an asteroid impact.
"[It is] a sign of the rapid advances in global detection capabilities," writes the European Space Agency (ESA) on Twitter.
Videos filmed in both England and France capture people's amazement as the asteroid burns up and detonates in Earth's atmosphere.
"I saw a post on Facebook saying that it was expected at 03:00 so I just stood at my window and turned on my phone," says Becky who witnessed the asteroid. "I wasn't expecting much but it really was amazing."
Dutch photographer Gijs de Reijke drove to the French city of Le Havre to capture an astonishing shot of the asteroid. He took a 30-second exposure on a Nikon D850 with a 70-300mm set at 135mm, the amazing photos highlight the bright colors of the asteroid.
Another photographer, David L, captured the asteroid from Le Mans, France.
Gijs de Reijke and David Legangneux photos.
Previously: 2018 LA: The Third Asteroid Discovered on an Impact Trajectory With Earth
An Asteroid Hit Earth Right After Being Spotted by Telescope This Week
(Score: 2) by archfeld on Tuesday July 02 2019, @05:30AM (1 child)
Apparently it wasn't a smart refrigerator....
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(Score: 3, Funny) by inertnet on Tuesday July 02 2019, @08:34AM
So we'll never know how much beer it contained.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday July 02 2019, @05:41AM
LSST will make it a daily occurrence, maybe.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 02 2019, @10:29PM
This was just a campaign trip for Giant Meteor 2020.