A bright fireball entered Earth’s atmosphere and burnt up over Yakutia, Russia, on Tuesday, December 3. The asteroid C0WEPC5, measuring about 70 cm in diameter, crashed on Earth at 16:15 UTC, creating a bright fireball over Russia. An X user Kirill Bakanov shared stunning footage of this bright fireball leaving viewers stunned and amazed!
Asteroid #C0WEPC5 in Olyokminsk, Russia pic.twitter.com/Yb40AofPNZ
— Kirill Bakanov (@WeatherSarov1) December 3, 2024
The fireball was detected by the European Space Agency hours before it entered Earth’s atmosphere. Later the agency confirmed that the asteroid caused no harm when it crashed ESA posted on X warning about the potential impact of the asteroid a few hours before it entered the atmosphere.
Incoming!☄️
A small asteroid has just been spotted on a collision course with Earth. At around ~70 cm in diameter, the impact will be harmless, likely producing a nice fireball in the sky over northern Siberia around seven hours from now at ~16:15 +/- 05 min UTC (17:15 +/-5 min… pic.twitter.com/ie9yj0FHfB
— European Space Agency (@esa) December 3, 2024
The fireball was similar to the fireball asteroid 2024 RW1 that was spotted over the Philippines in September. It’s surely been a busy time for stargazers as many asteroids approached Earth over the last few weeks. From small asteroids such as 2004 UQ to big asteroids such as Asteroid 2020 XR, it’s been a great asteroid season.
Organisations such as the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), NASA, ESA, and many other observatories often detect asteroids and track them. The Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System is a specially optimised system for tracking Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) and warns us about any potential impacts.