Whether it’s 1979’s Meteor or 1998’s Armageddon, Hollywood has a long history of movies about asteroids destroying the earth. But scientists usually detect these asteroids in the movie, so the main characters get to provide some memorable one-liner suggestions on how to avert it early on. Meteor, for example, features the USSR and the United States working together against one other. On the other hand, Armageddon depicts heroism from unlikely sources, averting the destruction of the globe. Science-defying stunts are also common in the name of entertainment.
Asteroids, on the other hand, are a different story. According to Live Science, just five asteroids were discovered before their collision with Earth. The majority of these asteroids strike the planet with little or no warning. Recently earth just collided with an asteroid the size of a refrigerator, with only a two-hour warning period. Here’s how this fridge-sized asteroid was discovered.
After astronomer Krisztián Sárneczky discovered 2022 EB5 at the Piszkéstet Mountain Station on March 11, 2022, the Konkoly Observatory pulsed with life. NASA’s “Scout” impact hazard assessment system was activated as soon as the Observatory alerted officials to the fast-moving rock’s existence. Scout alerted the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California as soon as it was certain the meteor was on its way (JPL). According to the JPL, the CNEOS team went to work predicting the asteroid’s impact time and location.
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Davide Farnocchia of the JPL says – “Scout had only 14 observations over 40 minutes from one observatory to work with when it first identified the object as an impactor. We were able to determine the possible impact locations … As more observatories tracked the asteroid, our calculations of its trajectory and impact location became more precise.” It took a global effort, exactly like those seen in movies, to follow and target the object before it struck.
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The asteroid slammed into the Earth at a speed of 39,600 miles per hour just 120 minutes later. It burst into flames when it entered the atmosphere at a diameter of 6.5 feet. Scientists have determined that when eagle-eyed Sárneczky first sighted the rock, it was about one-third of the distance between the moon and Earth.
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Scout predicted that 2022 EB5 would strike Earth’s atmosphere above the Norwegian island of Jan Mayen, some 300 miles distant from Greenland, at approximately 5:23 p.m. EST, and that’s exactly what happened. Scientists used infrasound detectors to verify the impact point and confirm the correctness of Scout’s measurements. The asteroid’s size may be precisely measured thanks to these detectors.
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Experts think that the asteroid burned up upon entering the earth’s atmosphere and turned into a spectacular meteor known as a fireball or shooting star in the sky. In light of its modest size, it is exceedingly unlikely the asteroid survived its journey. It most likely burned up completely in Earth’s atmosphere, as no meteorite remnants have been discovered until now.
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At this point, you may be asking how frequently these kinds of situations occur. Director Paul Chodas of the CNEOS states, “Tiny asteroids like 2022 EB5 are numerous, and they impact into the atmosphere quite frequently — roughly every ten months or so.”
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If asteroid impacts like these are common, then why is 2022 EB5 only the 5th asteroid to have been discovered in advance? When it comes to spotting small asteroids using a survey telescope, the chances of actually locating them are astronomically low! These objects have a very faint appearance in the night sky. However, they begin to glow a few hours before they hit Earth’s orbit. “The final light up” of this fridge-sized asteroid is what tipped Sárneczky off.
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Larger asteroids are easier to observe; therefore, astronomers are able to discover them early. TC3, a 13-foot-wide asteroid which struck Earth over the Nubian Desert in 2008, was the first-ever identified asteroid before it hit. A hail of smaller meteorites rained down on the desert as it entered Earth’s protective atmosphere and fractured. So, when it came to predicting the arrival of enormous meteorites, Hollywood got it right. However, don’t expect NASA to bring in Bruce Willis (again) to save the Earth!
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2014 AA, 2018 LA, 2008 TV2 and 2019 MO are the other four asteroids that have been observed before impact. A dazzling flash of light has been reported by a few people in Iceland who claim to have witnessed the most recent meteor strike. According to a statement from the European Space Agency, there have been no conclusive visual or video detections of the fireball “presumably due to the remoteness of the impact point.”
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There is, however, independent evidence of the asteroid’s impact owing to data from an international network of infrasound sensors. According to the ESA statement, these detectors picked up signals from both Iceland and Greenland. Public reports of sightings of the fridge-sized asteroid are being accepted by the International Meteor Organization right now. You, too, can report a sighting if you live in Iceland or Norway and believe you saw this meteor.
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