Spectacular fireball: 28-inch asteroid lights up Siberian skies hours after detection, watch video

An asteroid fell in Siberia on December 4, 2024. (Image: Screengrab- @CelsitoM042867/X)

A small asteroid brightened the skies over northern Siberia. The space rock entered Earth's atmosphere on December 4. The fireball, though spectacular, caused no harm. Astronomers spotted the 28-inch asteroid just hours before it hit.

Astronomers Track Impact Hours Before Arrival

"Due to global observations by astronomers, our alert system predicted the impact within +/- 10 seconds," the European Space Agency (ESA) said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Incoming!
A small asteroid has just been spotted on a collision course with Earth. At around ~70 cm in diameter, the impact will be harmless, likely producing a nice fireball in the sky over northern Siberia around seven hours from now at ~16:15 +/- 05 min UTC (17:15 +/-5 min pic.twitter.com/ie9yj0FHfB European Space Agency (@esa) December 3, 2024

The asteroid, named C0WEPC5, entered Earth's atmosphere at 1:15 a.m. local time on December 4. It passed over Russia’s remote Sakha Republic. The space rock, with a diameter of 28 inches, was detected 12 hours prior. Experts tracked the asteroid through NASA's ATLAS system. The system predicted the asteroid's arrival within 10 seconds.

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The Sakha Republic Ministry of Internal Affairs shared footage on their Telegram. It was taken by the local Olekminsky District's Ministry of Internal Affairs. The fireball lit up the Siberian sky, captured by residents and authorities. No damage was reported, and no injuries occurred during the event.

Los primeros vdeos de un asteroide cayendo en Siberia... Diciembre 4, 2024 pic.twitter.com/Dx93PC2YTw ~ ~ (@CelsitoM042867) December 3, 2024

Improved Detection for Potentially Dangerous Asteroids

NASA and ESA track near-Earth objects to prevent danger. C0WEPC5 posed no threat to Earth, but early detection helps. The alert system was able to spot four such "imminent impactors" this year. This follows years of improvements in tracking asteroids. The first detected space rock, 2008 TC3, broke up above Sudan in 2008.

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NASA and ESA have dedicated programs to spot and monitor potential threats. These systems help astronomers identify objects on collision courses. Fortunately, no asteroid is known to pose a threat for the next 100 years.