A small asteroid / meteoroid has been captured on video falling towards Northern France this Monday morning. pic.twitter.com/scSKDJTJsU
— MG (@arnau1700) February 13, 2023
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 of months ago, astronomers discovered a meteor hours before it struck over Canada.
Small asteroid causes light show over France
C’est l’ #Astéroïde qui a atterri sur Rouen ?
Celui qui trouve le fragment, c’est jackpot pour lui . pic.twitter.com/fWyt9o6SCC
— ? ???????? ? (@patrondukremlin) February 13, 2023
[ ?? FRANCE | ?? ESPACE ]
? Vidéo prise du côté de Rouen dans laquelle nous voyons le petit astéroïde entrer dans l’atmosphère terrestre. [ ? @MegaLuigi ]pic.twitter.com/IU70tLapw1
— (Little) Think Tank (@L_ThinkTank) February 13, 2023
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 last asteroid discovered just before striking Earth, 2022 WJ1, entered the air over Canada on November 19, 2022.
What’s more, this object – Sar2667 – struck 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 alerts before impact from Twitter
Astronomy folk on Twitter had a field day Sunday evening, with alerts of the asteroid’s arrival.
A 1-meter meteoroid (small #asteroid) has been detected and is expected to *safely* strike Earth’s atmosphere over northern France between 3:50-4:03 CET.
In the area? Look out for a #ShootingStar!??#Fireball#Sar2667 https://t.co/ul0tAMmXBK
— ESA Operations (@esaoperations) February 12, 2023
? ?? IMMINENT ASTEROID ATMOSPHERIC ENTRY???
In a few hours, on February 13, ~02h 59min UT, a small freshly discovered 1-m diameter asteroid, Sar2667 is to enter the Earth atmosphere above the Channel. A bright fireball should be visible from North Fr., Belg., NLs and GB. pic.twitter.com/kT9c4Xc96Z— IMO Meteor Org. (@IMOmeteors) February 12, 2023
???Incoming! Almost perfectly in time for the 10 year anniversary of the Chelyabinsk meteor: The first spotted #imminentImpactor of 2023 over northern France (near Rouen): pic.twitter.com/RIpx2vGZku
— Richard Moissl (@Richard_M_F) February 12, 2023
?ATTENTION! A small asteroid is expected to safely impact the French-English channel in ~4 hours time, 03:00:03 UT tomorrow. Object size is around ~1 meter and should appear as bright as the Moon momentarily as it enters the atmosphere. Approx visibility circle posted below. 1/ pic.twitter.com/Ckh5OBsz4l
— Tom Williams (@tw__astro) February 12, 2023
Asteroid folks using telescopes where it is currently night take note:
New discovery #Sar2667 with potential impact over western Europe in just under 6 hours – https://t.co/mV4EyvFL3m .
— Michael Busch (@michael_w_busch) February 12, 2023
Bottom line: A small asteroid safely crashed into Earth’s atmosphere – putting on a light show for observers in northern France – around 3 UTC on February 13, 2023. See videos of the impact on the atmosphere here.
