A small asteroid illuminated the Siberian night sky early on December 4. The European Space Agency (ESA) reported that the asteroid, measuring around 70 centimetres in diameter, produced a fireball seen across the vast Siberian tundra around 4.15 am local time.
In a post on X, the ESA wrote, “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.”
Incoming!☄️
— European Space Agency (@esa) December 3, 2024
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
The asteroid, designated C0WEPC5, was first detected hours before it entered the Earth's atmosphere. Astronomers working with the University of Arizona's Bok telescope, alongside the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey, identified the potential impactor. NASA's Scout system subsequently confirmed its path at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS), accurately predicting its trajectory and approach.
Ahead of the event, Alan Fitzsimmons from Queen's University Belfast in the UK noted that while an object of this size posed no danger to those on the ground, the early detection was a promising indicator of the Earth's improving capability to identify such objects before they strike the planet. “It's a small one, but it will still be quite spectacular,” Fitzsimmons told New Scientist, adding, “It will be dark over the impact site and for several hundreds of kilometres around there'll be a very impressive, very bright fireball in the sky.”
The asteroid entered Earth's atmosphere at an impressive speed of 15.5 kilometres per second, with a descent angle of 58 degrees from the southeast, reported EarthSky, adding its fragments might have reached the ground. The event occurred near the site of the famous 1908 Tunguska Event, where a much larger asteroid's explosion flattened hundreds of square miles of trees and forest.
Mohammad Shawkat Odeh, director of the International Astronomical Center in the UAE, captured images of the asteroid moments before it entered the Earth's atmosphere. He granted EarthSky permission to share the image and video footage of the event.
Here's a video of the small asteroid C0WEPC5 just minutes before hitting Earth above Siberia today. Video via Mohammad Shawkat Odeh from the UAE: "I started around 14:20 till 15:21 UT, that is 53 minutes before the impact." Used with permission. pic.twitter.com/qqsp07q4rn
— EarthSky (@earthskyscience) December 3, 2024
C0WEPC5 marks the fourth instance this year where an asteroid was detected as an “imminent impactor” before striking Earth, marking only the 11th confirmed case of such an event, with a 12th still awaiting confirmation, according to physicist Richard Moissl.
☄️????Incoming! The 12th ever imminent impactor discovered before atmospheric entry is on it's way to cause a harmless meteor in about 7 hours from now (~16:15 UTC +/- 5 minutes) over Siberia. With an estimated size of ~70 cm diameter it will cause a nice bright fireball #C0WECP5 pic.twitter.com/yY8IpUlZHe
— Richard Moissl (@Richard_M_F) December 3, 2024
This shows the kind of improvements in observational technology, and the increasing ability of scientists to predict and monitor near-Earth objects. Today, both NASA and ESA run extensive programmes, partnering with global observatories and amateur astronomers, to detect and track asteroids.
