A newly discovered asteroid is on a collision course with Earth and will hit our atmosphere in a matter of hours.
The asteroid, known as COWECP5, is expected to pass through Eastern Siberia at 11:14am ET.
Scientists say the small rock, which is about 27 inches in diameter, is expected to burn up in space and pose no threat to people on the ground.
An asteroid was spotted NASA‘s Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert Systemwhich was designed to give scientists a week’s notice of incoming asteroids.
It was detected seven hours before impact, which is only the 12th time scientists have accurately predicted an asteroid before it hit.
This event will do the same it is the fourth star to hit Earth’s sky this year.
The NASA-funded Kitt Peak National Observatory, a project that tracks near-Earth objects, spotted the asteroid again early Tuesday.
Richard Moissl, head of the planetary protection office at ESA, said Kitt Peak’s Aegis system had already calculated the ‘impact path’ of the asteroid.
The asteroid is 27 inches in diameter and is expected to brighten as it enters Earth’s atmosphere over Siberia.
The Aegis system is used by the US military to detect air and surface threats through radar technology and computer software and is the ‘multi-mission combat system in use in the world today,’ according to Lockheed Martin.
Moissl said in the X newsletter that the system predicts that the asteroid will enter the atmosphere about 124 kilometers east of Lensk, but this is based on the expected direction.
Alan Fitzsimmons at Queen’s University Belfast in Ireland said The New Scientist that the asteroid will not pose a threat to the people on the ground.
“It’s small, but it’s going to be impressive,” Fitzsimmons said.
‘There will be darkness over the affected area and for several hundred kilometers around there will be a spectacular, very bright fire in the sky.’
Scientists have confirmed that the small size of the asteroid means that it will not be destroyed when it hits the ground and there is no need for people to leave the area.
According to a 2017 study, only asteroids are around 60 meters in diameter it is dangerous if it goes to Earth.
Asteroids are also called Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) because they are found at a distance of 120 million kilometers from the sun.
First view of an asteroid is coming It’s unique because so few have been seen before entering Earth’s atmosphere, but Fitzsimmons said it’s a good sign that astronomers were able to detect the asteroid so quickly.
“It’s a win for science, and (for) anyone who’s in Siberia this evening,” Fitzsimmons told New Scientist, adding: ‘Something to take your mind off the freezing temperatures.’
These asteroids are classified as Near Earth Objects (NEOs) because they come within 120 million kilometers of the Sun due to the gravitational pull of other nearby planets.
As more asteroids are observed, the accuracy with which astronomers can predict where an object will be years or decades into the future improves dramatically.
