A newly discovered asteroid is on a collision course with Earth and will hit our atmosphere in just a matter of hours.
The asteroid, named COWECP5, is forecast to pass through the sky over eastern Siberia at 11:14 a.m. ET.
Scientists say the small space rock, which measures 27 inches in diameter, is expected to burn up in the atmosphere and poses no threat to humans on Earth.
The asteroid was detected by NASA’s Asteroid Ground Impact Latest Alert System, which was designed to provide scientists with up to a week’s notice of impending asteroids.
It was detected seven hours before its impact, marking only the 12th time scientists have accurately reported an asteroid before it hits.
This event will also mark the fourth asteroid to impact Earth’s atmosphere this year.
The NASA-funded Kitt Peak National Observatory, a project that tracks near-Earth objects, also spotted the asteroid Tuesday morning.
Richard Moissl, head of ESA’s planetary defense office, He said Kitt Peak’s Aegis system had already calculated the asteroid’s “impact corridor.”
The asteroid measures 27 inches in diameter and is expected to brighten as it enters Earth’s atmosphere over Siberia.
The Aegis system is used by the US Navy to identify air and surface threats through radar technology and software and is “the most capable multi-mission combat system deployed in the world today,” according to Lockheed Martin.
Moissl said in a post on X that the system predicts the asteroid will enter the atmosphere about 124 miles east of Lensk, but this is based on its current projected trajectory.
Alan Fitzsimmons of Queen’s University Belfast, Ireland, said New scientist that the asteroid will not pose a risk to people on the ground.
“It’s small, but it’s still going to be pretty spectacular,” Fitzsimmons said.
“It will be dark above the impact site and for several hundred kilometers around there will be an impressively bright fireball in the sky.”
Scientists have assured that the small size of the asteroid means that it will not cause any damage when it hits the ground and it will not be necessary to evacuate the area.
According to a 2017 study, only asteroids that are at least nearly 60 feet in diameter are potentially lethal if headed toward Earth.
Asteroids are also called Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) because they are 120 million miles from the sun.
The early sighting of the incoming asteroid is unique in that very few have been detected before they entered Earth’s atmosphere, but Fitzsimmons reported that it is a positive sign that astronomers were able to identify the asteroid so early.
“It’s a win for science and for anyone in Siberia tonight,” Fitzsimmons told New Scientist, adding: “There’s something to take your mind off of the admittedly quite cold temperatures.”
These asteroids are classified as Near-Earth Objects (NEO) because they come within 120 million miles of the Sun thanks to the gravitational pull of other nearby planets.
As more asteroids are observed, the accuracy with which astronomers can predict where an object will be years or decades in the future improves dramatically.