A newly-discovered asteroid, identified as 2024 RW1, entered Earth’s atmosphere over Luzon, Philippines, on September 5, 2024, creating a spectacular green fireball. This marks the ninth asteroid ever detected before impact.
Asteroid 2024 RW1 was discovered at 05:43 UTC on September 5 by Jacqueline Fazekas at the Mt. Lemmon Survey in Arizona, part of the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey, and entered Earth’s atmosphere overs over Luzon, Philippines, at 16:39 UTC on the same day.
The object was sufficiently large to create a bright fireball as it raced through the atmosphere at a speed of about 23.7 km/s but not large enough to do any damage.
BIG NEWS! CSS observer Jacqueline Fazekas has just discovered a small meteoroid that will harmlessly impact with Earth’s atmosphere in about 8 hours over the Western Pacific. The object (called CAQTDL2) is small, a few feet in diameter. Attached are the discovery images. pic.twitter.com/js7qHNiZq0
— Catalina Sky Survey (@catalina_sky) September 4, 2024
One of the clearest shot of #asteroid
A very small #asteroid ( 1 meter) entered into earth’s atmosphere and turned into green fireball off the east coast of the northern Philippines. pic.twitter.com/B24Qlff2JH
— Neetu Khandelwal (@T_Investor_) September 4, 2024
!
Here’s a clear shot of the much-awaited small asteroid 2024 RW1 (#CAQTDL2) burning bright into a greenish ‘fireball’ over Lal-lo, Cagayan around 12:39 AM PhST, 05 September 2024. Did you see it too?
— ScienceKonek (@sciencekonek) September 4, 2024
SUCH A SPECTACULAR NIGHT SHOW, ASTEROID RW1!!! Taken from Tuguegarao City, Cagayan, Philippines! pic.twitter.com/F133i8nibr
— Raymon Dullana (@raymongdullana) September 4, 2024
Bumi baru aja dihantam asteroid kecil!
Semalam, 4 September 2024 pukul 23:45 WIB, sebuah asteroid bernama 2024 RW1 (sebelumnya disebut CAQTDL2), menghantam Bumi dan terbakar di langit atas Filipina. Video ini direkam di langit atas Kota Tuguegarao.
-Sebuah Utas- pic.twitter.com/qWJUAM8fgE
— InfoAstronomy.org (@infoAstronomy) September 5, 2024
CAQTDL2 shot by Karen Bea at Sta. Ana, Cagayan Philippines#CAQTDL2 #Meteoroid #Asteroid pic.twitter.com/UjB9BcXCLn
— iamtony (@iamtony_B) September 4, 2024
Этим вечером в атмосферу Земли вошел астероид
Астероид (метеороид) 2024 RW1 (CAQTDL2) было видно в радиусе 700 км. В момент входа в верхние слои атмосферы астероид создал вокруг себя облако плазмы, которое сияло как полная Луна.
Гуд Афтенун | Новости pic.twitter.com/W9sQEC5u0Q
— Igor Вице-блогер (@Igor12066848) September 4, 2024
UPDATE: We expect the ~1 m asteroid discovered this morning to strike Earth’s atmosphere over the Philippines near Luzon Island at 16:46 UTC today.
However the nearby tropical storm Yagi/Enteng will make fireball observations difficult.
Stay safe everyone! pic.twitter.com/GrMxi6MaNc
— European Space Agency (@esa) September 4, 2024
Asteroid 2024 RW1 had an estimated diameter between 1.1 and 2.4 m (3.6 – 7.9 feet), making it the sixth-largest of 9 asteroids ever detected before impacting Earth’s atmosphere.
The largest was 2019 MO, which impacted off the south coast of Puerto Rico, in the Caribbean Sea, on June 22, 2019. It was discovered on the same day and had a diameter of approximately 5 m (16.4 feet) and a mass of around 200 tons.
Predicted Earth impactors
| Object / Type | Discovery date (UTC) | Impact date (UTC) | Impact location | Dimensions (~) | Energy released (kt) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 TC3 (Apollo) | October 6, 2008 at 06:39 | October 7, 2008 at 02:46 | Nubian desert, Sudan | 4 m (13.1 feet) | 1 | 600 meteorites found. Total weight 11 kg. |
| 2014 AA (Apollo) | January 1, 2014 at 06:18 | January 2, 2014 at 03:06 | Atlantic Ocean | 3 m (9.8 feet) | 0.5 – 0.1 | – |
| 2018 LA (Apollo) | June 2, 2018 at 08:22 | June 2, 2018 at 16:44 | Botswana/South Africa | 3 m (9.8 feet) | 0.4 | At least 24 meteorites found. Ejected by asteroid Vesta. Howardite-Eucrite-Diogenite (HED) type material |
| 2019 MO (Apollo) | June 22, 2019 at 07:24 | June 22, 2019 at 21:25 | Puerto Rico | 5 m (16.4 feet) | 6 | Possibly Alinda asteroid. NEXRAD weather radar detected falling meteorites over water. |
| 2022 EB5 (Apollo) | March 11, 2022 at 19:24 | March 11, 2022 at 21:22 | Jan Mayen Island, Norway | 1 m (6.4 feet) | 2 | – |
| 2022 WJ1 (Apollo) | November 19, 2022 at 04:53 | November 19, 2022 at 08:27 | Ontario, Canada | 1 m (3.2 feet) | – | Most meteorites fell in water. |
| 2023 CX1 (Apollo) | February 12, 2023 at 20:18 | February 13, 2023 at 02:59 | Normandy, France | 1 m (3.2 feet) | – | Over 22 meteorites. |
| 2024 BX1 (Apollo) | January 20, 2024 at 20:48 | January 21, 2024 at 00:33 | Berlin, Germany | 0.7 – 1.6 m (2.23 – 5.2 feet) / ~140 kg | – | About 200 meteorites. Total weight 1.8 kg. |
| 2024 RW1 (Apollo) | September 4, 2024 at 05:43 | September 4, 2024 at 16:39 | Luzon, Philippines | 1.1 – 2.4 m (3.6 – 7.9 feet) | 0.2 |
Updated at 20:34 UTC on September 6, 2024
References:
1 Asteroid 2024 RW1 impacts Earth’s atmosphere over the Philippines – 9th predicted Earth impactor in history – The Watchers– September 4, 2024
Featured image credit: Valiant Aniñon
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