An asteroid hit Earth today, but did no damage. The asteroid in question was known as 2024 RW1. It was first detected just hours before it hit Earth on September 4, 2024. The asteroid burned up in the atmosphere east of the Philippines, According to The new scientist.
While it created a fairly large fireball, the asteroid was unfortunately difficult to see from the ground due to the cloudiness created by the typhoon in the area. Estimated by astronomers at about 12:45 PM ET, the asteroid impacted Earth’s atmosphere while traveling at approximately 17.6 kilometers per second.
This is not the first time an asteroid has impacted Earth hours after being discovered. In fact, astronomers believe there may be thousands of asteroids that we don’t know about yet because they are hidden from the bright light of the Sun. As such, astronomers are always looking for new ways to detect those asteroids so that we can prepare for the worst—should it come.
While the asteroid did, in fact, hit Earth and burn up in the atmosphere, it was never large enough to do any damage, fortunately. Of course, that’s not always the case. We’ve had a couple of “close calls” with asteroids in the past, too Two asteroids passing by Earth On the same day earlier this year. Fortunately, none of them affected our planet, so there was no trouble.
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If you’ve ever wondered what an asteroid impact might do to Earth, however, there are a number of resources that can give you a good idea. A website, for example, can customize how big an asteroid or comet is, what type it is, and even where it hits. It can definitely be a little scary to think about, though. Thankfully, NASA is working on ways to deflect asteroids, and a test last year proved to be very successful in altering the asteroid’s trajectory.
Post An asteroid just hit Earth, but it’s not as bad as it sounds appeared first BGR.