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Small asteroid impacts Earth’s atmosphere over France

Small asteroid impacts atmosphere over France

A small asteroid, what some are calling a meteoroid, struck Earth’s atmosphere tonight – the night of February 12-13, 2023 – over northern France. The little space rock was just one meter wide (about 3 feet wide). The International Meteor Organization said that it could be the source of a potential meteorite fall. Any bits recovered could be the subject of future studies.

This is just the 7th time that a meteor was discovered before impacting Earth. Just a couple months ago, astronomers discovered a meteor hours before it struck over Canada.

Big accomplishment! Discovered before striking

Considering the small size of this little object moving through space, it’s amazing it could have been discovered before striking.

Krisztián Sárneczky of Hungary made the discovery of the object, which has been given the designation Sar2667, just hours before its predicted impact.

The most recent asteroid discovered before striking Earth, 2022 WJ1, entered the air over Canada on November 19, 2022.

What’s more, this object will strike Earth’s atmosphere at almost the 10-year anniversary of the Chelyabinsk explosion over Russia. That object struck on February 15, 2013, creating a shock wave that broke windows in several cities in Russia.

You can read more about Sar2667’s stats at NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies page.

Asteroid alert before impact from Twitter

Bottom line: A small asteroid – about 1 meter (3 feet) wide – safely impacted Earth’s atmosphere over the skies of northern France around 3 UTC on February 13, 2023. See videos of the impact on the atmosphere here.

Now on sale! The 2023 EarthSky lunar calendar. A unique and beautiful poster-sized calendar showing phases of the moon every night of the year. Treat yourself!

The post Small asteroid impacts Earth’s atmosphere over France first appeared on EarthSky.

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