Residents of the Olekminsk and Lensk districts, in the far east of Russia, were able to observe a 70-centimeter asteroid burst into flames as it crossed the skies early on Wednesday, December 4.
A ball of fire tears through the sky over Russia's Far East. This is not the latest scenario from a disaster film but the vision that was given to residents of Yakutia, a remote region of Siberia, early this Wednesday, December 4. The asteroid that became a ball of flames likely burned up in the atmosphere, officials and scientists said.
Yakutia's Emergency Situations Ministry said all official agencies were placed on alert as the asteroid approached, but no damage was reported after its descent. “Residents of Olekminsk and Lensk districts were able to observe a comet-like tail and lightning at night”he explained.
70 centimeters in diameter
For its part, the European Space Agency (ESA) affirmed on the social network X that the asteroid measured 70 cm in diameter and that it had been spotted a dozen hours before its appearance in the sky. The asteroid entered the atmosphere at 1:15 a.m. local time. “Thanks to observations from astronomers around the world, our warning system was able to predict this impact to within more or less 10 seconds”the agency said.
Astronomer Alan Fitzsimmons, from Queen's University Belfast, quoted by the magazine New Scientistclarified before the appearance of the fireball that the asteroid was “small, but it would still be quite spectacular, visible from hundreds of kilometers”.
-Asteroids are ancient materials from the formation of the solar system, which are believed to have brought the beginnings of life to Earth billions of years ago, explains the Planetary Defense Office of ESA, which observes, predicts and, if necessary, warns of the presence of potentially dangerous space objects. These asteroids generally orbit the Sun in the main asteroid belt, between Mars and Jupiter.
While large asteroid impacts on Earth are extremely rare, small and medium-sized rocks crash much more often, potentially causing serious damage. “We currently know of more than half a million asteroids in our solar system”continues the Office. And some are actively monitored for their dangerousness.
