When the sky surprises: Unexpected asteroid over the Philippines

A surprise asteroid streaked across the sky over the Philippines. In the middle of the night, a bright flash of light was visible momentarily. Interestingly, the moment when the asteroid entered Earth's atmosphere occurred a few hours after its discovery.

Today, the sky is well-monitored. Observations are conducted by large centres dedicated to space and amateur enthusiasts. Despite this, there are situations where asteroids manage to surprise us.

The asteroid 2024 RW1 was discovered as part of NASA's Catalina Sky Survey program a few hours before it reached Earth's atmosphere. It was not a large object—about 1 metre in diameter—and posed no threat due to its small size.

Objects the size of 2024 RW1 cannot threaten anything on Earth because they burn up in the atmosphere. According to Science Alert, even if reports indicate that an asteroid has reached Earth, it means achieving the atmosphere.

According to Science Alert, such small objects are rarely discovered before reaching Earth. The European Space Agency states that asteroids with one metre diameter reach our planet every two weeks. While this may surprise us, the ability to detect such a small, nonthreatening, low-brightness object is a certain success.

2024 RW1 was a small asteroid whose speed was also not particularly impressive. According to ESA, this object moved at a speed of 63,454 kilometres per hour, which is close to the average speed of asteroids.

Such small objects pose no threat to people, buildings, or objects on Earth. However, in the past, large objects have impacted the surface of our planet. Take, for example, the incident in 2013 in Chelyabinsk, where about 1,500 people were injured due to the Chelyabinsk meteorite. On the other hand, the impact of the Chicxulub Asteroid led to the extinction of dinosaurs, completely changing life on Earth.