Asteroid Heading Toward Earth Blazes Across Sky in Fireball Over Siberia

Mar. 15, 2025

A photo of the impact of the asteroid from the European Space Agency.Photo:European Space Agency/X

European Space Agency/X

A small asteroid on a collision course with Earth made a blazing fireball across the sky.

The European Space Agency (ESA) shared in apost on X(formerly known as Twitter) that “a small asteroid” that was about 27.5 inches wide (70 centimeters) and “spotted on a collision course with Earth” on Tuesday, Dec. 3, “likely” producing a “nice fireball” over Siberia — though its impact would be “harmless.”

Officials noted that “thanks to observations from astronomers around the world,” they were able to predict the asteroid’s impact within 10 seconds.

The agency noted that it would “create a harmless fireball" and would “impact Earth’s atmosphere.”

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NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory(JPL) was also tracking another asteroid, known as2020 XR, as it passed close to Earth — approximately 1.37 million miles away — on Wednesday, Dec. 4, according toUSA Today. That asteroid was much larger than the one that passed over Siberia, as it was about the size of a football stadium, per the outlet.

NASA’s JPL monitors “asteroids and comets” that enter “within 120 million miles” of the sun, which is considered within the “Earth’s orbital neighborhood,” according to itswebsite. The agency noted that asteroids can range in size from about “10 feet to nearly 25 miles.”

source: people.com