An asteroid measuring roughly one metre in diameter impacted Earth’s ambiance on October 22, 2024, solely hours after its preliminary detection. Found by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Final Alert System (ATLAS) in Hawaii, the thing — named 2024 UQ — approached the planet undetected by international affect monitoring programs earlier than disintegrating over the Pacific Ocean off California’s coast. The European House Company’s (ESA) Close to-Earth Object Coordination Centre later confirmed the occasion in its November e-newsletter, reporting that monitoring knowledge for the asteroid didn’t attain monitoring programs till after the affect had already taken place.
Restricted Monitoring Information As a result of Detection Timing
In response to ESA’s November e-newsletter, 2024 UQ had been picked up by ATLAS’ sky-monitoring telescopes. Nevertheless, the asteroid was solely recognized as a shifting object minutes earlier than it entered Earth’s ambiance resulting from its location between two adjoining sky fields within the survey system. This detection delay meant that important monitoring knowledge was delayed and unavailable for affect monitoring centres, which observe potential near-Earth object (NEO) threats. Affirmation of the asteroid’s affect was made doable by knowledge from the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) GOES climate satellites and NASA’s Catalina Sky Survey, which recorded flashes that confirmed the entry of 2024 UQ.
Third Imminent Influence Occasion in 2024
This incident marked the third imminent impactor occasion in 2024. In January, the same object designated as 2024 BX1 burned up over Berlin, whereas one other asteroid, 2024 RW1, exploded above the Philippines in September, with footage of the fireball captured by native observers. These cases underscore the rarity but rising frequency of small asteroids coming into Earth’s ambiance undetected.
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International Efforts to Monitor Close to-Earth Objects
Planetary defence stays a precedence as area businesses worldwide develop programs to trace doubtlessly hazardous objects. Along with tasks like ATLAS and the Catalina Sky Survey, NASA’s upcoming NEO Surveyor mission goals to make use of infrared expertise to reinforce detection capabilities. ESA’s NEO Coordination Centre continues its work on monitoring near-Earth objects, whereas deflection experiments, together with NASA’s DART mission in 2022, are additionally underway to check potential asteroid redirection methods.
