Siberian sky lit up by harmless asteroid's fiery descent
Numerous recordings from Siberia, where a spectacular flash occurred in the sky, are being published on social media. The reasons for its occurrence are not a mystery, nor was the event dangerous for us.
The "culprit" in this case turned out to be a small asteroid that, on 3rd December this year, was on a collision course with our planet. The fireball appearing in social media reports results from the asteroid burning up in Earth's atmosphere.
Asteroid over Siberia
Interestingly, the European Space Agency (ESA) stated the approaching asteroid a few hours before it entered Earth's atmosphere. Experts clearly stated that an object of this size posed no threat to people on the ground, but that, due to the circumstances, the event would be spectacular. According to Space.com, the object was detected by astronomers from the Kitt Peak National Observatory near Tucson, Arizona, shortly before its appearance near Earth.
“It is small, but it will still be quite spectacular. It will be dark over the indicated area, and within several hundred miles in the sky, a very impressive, very bright fireball will appear,” explained Professor Alan Fitzsimmons from Queen's University Belfast, an expert in the field of asteroid and comet science.
Experts say it's another good sign
The asteroid received a temporary designation C0WEPC5. According to the ESA statement, its diameter was about 70 centimetres. It appeared over northern Siberia, according to calculations.
Every year, several objects of this size are on a collision course with Earth, and people are able to detect them increasingly earlier. The ESA and other space agencies operate numerous sensor networks around the Earth, enabling them to detect incoming objects like C0WEPC5.
Professor Alan Fitzsimmons believes that the early warning about this object is another positive sign confirming that "our ability to detect objects before they hit Earth is improving."
