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
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Asteroid on Course to Earth Was Spotted Just Hours Before It Hit The Atmosphere
Witnesses reported a fireball streaking across the sky above Botswana on Saturday night. The asteroid hurtling toward Earth at 10 miles (16 km) a second looked like it could be the harbinger of catastrophe. A webcam in a rural area west of Johannesburg captured it, showing a luminous orb igniting the sky in a bright flash.
NASA had only discovered the asteroid on Saturday and determined it was on a collision course for the planet, charted for entry in a vast expanse from Southern Africa and across the Indian Ocean to New Guinea and given the name 2018 LA.
The reality of the asteroid's fiery end was less dramatic than the video shows. The asteroid was estimated at just six feet (1.8 metres) across, otherwise known as boulder-sized, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a statement. It burned up "several miles" above the Earth's surface.
2018 LA aka ZLAF9B2 (25-35 tons).
2014 AA (40 tons).
2008 TC3 (80 tons).
Submitted via IRC for Bytram
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.
(Score: 2) by jelizondo on Wednesday February 15, @03:10PM
Don't look up!
:-)
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MIRV888 on Wednesday February 15, @03:11PM
It was a complete accident / dumb luck. I happened to be outside and was looking at the night sky and saw what I thought at the time was a really big shooting star.
(Score: 2) by Barenflimski on Wednesday February 15, @03:26PM
That is pretty cool that we can predict some asteroids slamming into the planet.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 15, @05:06PM
Orbital mechanics are well understood!
Telescopic detection of asteroids is improving!
Inelastic collisions fascinate!
Details at ten...
(Score: 1) by anubi on Thursday February 16, @04:22AM
We are always traveling through uncharted space.
We are in orbit around our Sun.
Our Sun is in orbit around the barycenter of the milky way Galaxy, as well as influenced by other gravitic masses
And the whole shebang gravitionally orbiting the barycenter of the universe, influenced by yet other gravitic masses. Most likely not even seen yet due to speed of light versus our lifetime issues.
Now how are we gonna anything about a piece of cosmic flotsam in our spiraling path through spacetime?
From all I can tell, we are actually travelling at an enormous rate of speed. I suspect at the speed of light, and that's why the time dimension exists...but that's just my pet theory. I do not have any evidence to defend my belief.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]