A newly discovered asteroid is set to hit Earth today when it strikes the atmosphere over the Philippines.
The asteroid is currently will hit speeds of 39,000 miles per hour when it streaks through the sky at 12:45pm ET.
However, the relatively small, three-foot asteroid is predicted to burn up in the atmosphere, with what remains crashing into the sea.
Because of its immense speed, the asteroid is expected to shine bright, bursting into a bright fireball that can be seen by people in the Philippines at 12:46 a.m. local time.
The asteroid, called CAQTDL2, is three feet in diameter and is expected to shine as bright as the moon as it enters the Earth’s atmosphere
The asteroid (pictured) was spotted eight hours before it’s due to hit Earth, making it the ninth time an object has been accurately discovered before it entered the atmosphere
The NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey, a project that tracks near-Earth objects, spotted CAQTDL2 early Wednesday.
It was detected eight hours before it is due to hit the earth, which is only the ninth time scientists have accurately reported an asteroid before it struck.
Jacqueline Fazekas at the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona discovered the asteroid and posted photos as it approached the atmosphere.
Alan Fitzsimmons at Queen’s University Belfast in Ireland told New Scientist that the speed at which the asteroid will hit Earth is not unusual.
‘Don’t be fooled by Hollywood movies where you can see the thing coming screaming through the sky and you’ve got time to run out the house, get the cat, jump in the car and drive somewhere. You don’t have the time to do that,’ he said.
Scientists have assured that the asteroid’s small size means it will not do any damage when it hits the ground and there is no need for people to evacuate the area.
The European Space Agency (ESA) confirmed the asteroid will strike near Luzon Island in a post on X, adding that ‘the object is harmless, but people in the area may see a spectacular fireball!’
The asteroid is expected to strike to the east of the Philippines on Wednesday at about 12:45 EST
According to a 2017 study, only asteroids that span at least nearly 60 feet in diameter are potentially lethal if they heading toward Earth.
The early sighting of the incoming asteroid is unique in that very few have been spotted before they entered Earth’s atmosphere, but experts reported that this could be a sign of things to come.
‘The really positive aspect about this is that the survey telescopes are now good enough to spot these things coming in and give us a bit of warning,’ Fitzsimmons told New Scientist.
This indicates that if a major space rock were to strike the planet and posed a threat to humans, scientists would have ample time to warn people to leave the area.
‘So this actually is a really nice demonstration that the current survey systems are doing a very good job’ Fitzsimmons continued.
‘We’re probably averaging about one small asteroid detected before it hits the atmosphere every year now, and the survey systems are only getting better.’
The ESA added in its post that ‘this detection is actually great news! This is … a sign of our improving planetary defense capabilities.’
