On Thursday, September 4, a meteorite traveling at a speed of 39,000 miles per hour (approximately 62,764 km/h) entered the Earth’s atmosphere, exploded, and fell in the Philippines.
This is reported by the Daily Mail.
Residents of the Philippines witnessed the fall of an asteroid. Just 20 minutes after its entry into the atmosphere, the first photographs and videos of this phenomenon were published. People captured the fall of a celestial body that was even brighter than the Moon.
The meteorite was spotted just eight hours before entering the atmosphere. This was the ninth time that a celestial body was discovered before it collided with Earth. The asteroid was designated 2024 RW1.
According to the European Space Agency (ESA), the asteroid was about one metre in size. Due to its small size, the collision did not cause any damage to Earth. The object was expected to enter the atmosphere near the island of Luzon.
ESA officials said asteroid observations have improved significantly in recent years. They said that on average one small asteroid can be detected each year before it enters the atmosphere. This indicates that surveillance systems are becoming more effective.
“This is really great news!” the agency stressed, adding that such discoveries are an important sign of progress in the development of planetary defense.
Previously, Cursor reported that a strange noise was recorded on the NASA spacecraft.
