NASA detects asteroid that’s due to hit Earth’s atmosphere in a matter of hours

A newly discovered asteroid is on a collision course for Earth and will hit our atmosphere in just a matter of hours.

The asteroid, designated COWECP5, is forecasted to streak through the sky over Eastern Siberia at 11:14am ET. 

Scientists say the small space rock, measuring 27 inches in diameter, is expected to burn up in the atmosphere and poses no threat to humans on the ground. 

The asteroid was spotted by NASA’s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, which was designed to provide scientists with up to a week’s notice of impending asteroids. 

It was detected seven hours before it is due to hit, which is only the 12th time scientists have accurately reported an asteroid before it struck.

This event will also marks the fourth asteroid to hit Earth’s atmosphere this year. 

The NASA-funded Kitt Peak National Observatory, a project that tracks near-Earth objects, also spotted the asteroid early Tuesday. 

Richard Moissl, the head of planetary defense office with the ESA, said Kitt Peak’s Aegis system had already calculated the asteroid’s ‘impact corridor.’

The Aegis system is used by the US Navy to identify air and surface threats through radar technology and computer programs and is ‘the most capable multi-mission combat system deployed in the world today,’ according to Lockheed Martin.

Moissl said in a post on X that the system predicts the asteroid will enter the atmosphere about 124 miles east of Lensk, but this is based on its current projected trajectory.

Alan Fitzsimmons at Queen’s University Belfast in Ireland told New Scientist that the asteroid won’t pose a risk to people on the ground.

‘It’s a small one, but it will still be quite spectacular,’ Fitzsimmons said. 

‘It will be dark over the impact site and for several hundreds of kilometers around there’ll be a very impressive, very bright fireball in the sky.’

Scientists have assured that the asteroid’s small size means it will not do any damage when it hits the ground and there is no need for people to evacuate the area.

According to a 2017 study, only asteroids that span at least nearly 60 feet in diameter are potentially lethal if they head toward Earth.

The asteroids are also called Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) because they come within 120 million miles of the sun

The early sighting of the incoming asteroid is unique in that very few have been spotted before they entered Earth’s atmosphere, but Fitzsimmons reported that it is a positive sign that astronomers were able to identify the asteroid so early.

“It’s a win for science, and [for] anybody who happens to be in Siberia this evening,’ Fitzsimmons told New Scientist, adding: ‘There’s something to take your mind away from the no doubt quite chilly temperatures.’

These asteroids are categorized as Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) because they come within 120 million miles of the Sun thanks 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 in the future improves dramatically.