Asteroid C0WECP5's entry into Earth's atmosphere was captured on eyewitness footage. Its burning in the atmosphere was accompanied by a bright ball of fire. This is one of the few objects whose entry into the atmosphere we learned early enough to “hunt” for it.
On Tuesday, December 3 in the morning, Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona reported the discovery of a small celestial body on a collision course with Earth. The object was named C0WECP5 and, according to calculations, it was supposed to burn up on the same day in the atmosphere over Siberia. The space rock did not disappoint, leaving a bright, striking fireball in its wake.
A rare possibility
Observers from north-eastern Russia had excellent conditions to admire the phenomenon – the event took place on Wednesday night local time with clear skies (in Poland it was 5 p.m. on Tuesday). Recordings made by eyewitnesses of the event, as well as broadcasts from webcams from Yakutia, appeared on the Internet. Many people followed in hopes of seeing the fireball.
C0WECP5 is only the eleventh impactor in the history of observations – an object that is on a collision course with Earth – spotted before its entry into the atmosphere. These types of space rocks are usually small and burn up in the atmosphere, sometimes leaving behind meteorites – fragments that managed to fall to the surface of our planet.
Main photo source: Reuters/Sakha Republic Ministry of Internal Affairs