NASA spots asteroid just hours before it hits Earth's atmosphere

An asteroid detected just hours before impact with Earth burned up in a spectacular fireball over Russia last night.

It’s the fourth asteroid to have been detected within just hours before hitting Earth this year – although none have caused any damage.

Last night’s asteroid – named C0WEPC5 – was spotted in space by astronomers on a “collision course” with Earth just 12 hours before it hit the atmosphere.

“At 11.14am EST [16:14 UK time], a very small asteroid will impact the Earth’s atmosphere and create a harmless fireball over eastern Russia’s Olyokminsky district,” NASA said.

The asteroid is the fourth “imminent impactor” of 2024, the term for an asteroid discovered within hours of impact.

In October, asteroid 2024 UQ was spotted by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) two hours before it burnt up over Hawaii.

Two other imminent impactors burnt up over Berlin in January and over the Philippines in September.

How close did the asteroid get to earth?

The asteroid, measuring around cam in diameter, entered Earth’s atmosphere over Russia on Tuesday afternoon, UK time.

Asteroid C0WEPC5 flared up in the atmosphere around 30 to 50 miles up before exploding - and was captured on social media by Russians..

“Residents of Olekminsk and Lensk districts were able to observe in the night a tail similar to a comet and a flash,” the emergencies ministry in Yakutia said.

The asteroid was first spotted by astronomers at the Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona.

What happens when asteroids pass through Earth's atmosphere?

Asteroids normally burn up in the mesosphere, where the friction from air molecules heats the rocks up.

The mesosphere is the layer between the stratosphere and the thermosphere and is a layer between 31 and 53 miles up.

The air in the mesosphere is too thin to breathe, but there are enough air molecules to heat asteroids or meteoroids and make them explode.

Which asteroids are NASA tracking?

Space agencies around the world are working to spot and catalogue space rocks - with NASA working on a new infrared telescope NEO Surveyor to hunt for potentially threatening objects.

Other projects such as the ATLAS survey, Catalina Sky Survey and ESA's NEOCC work to spot near Earth objects.

‘Imminent impactors’, spotted at the last minute, tend to be small asteroids which do no harm.

NASA closely tracks 'near Earth objects’, with a focus on larger asteroids, and there’s no way a ‘doomsday’ asteroid could sneak up on our planet.

“Very few of these bodies are potential hazards to Earth, but the more we know and understand about them, the better prepared we will be to take appropriate measures if one is heading our way,” NASA said.

Smaller rocks, like the asteroid that exploded over Chelyabinsk in Russia in 2013, will hit our planet roughly every century, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The asteroid which ‘blew up’ over the Russian town is thought to have been around 60ft across.

During the 2013 Chelyabinsk event, 1500 people were injured and 7300 buildings damaged by the intense overpressure generated by the shockwave at Earth’s surface.

No one saw it coming before it entered Earth's atmosphere.

What's the difference between an asteroid and a meteor?

Asteroids are big chunks of rock which orbit the sun (as opposed to icy comets).

When a chunk of asteroid enters our atmosphere, it's usually called a 'meteoroid'.

A meteor is the bright trail made by a meteoroid or asteroid burning up in the atmosphere, while meteorite refers to the rock from meteoroids falling to Earth.

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