Meteorite crashes to Earth, lights up the sky over Russia's Yakutia region

Meteorite fell in Russia's Far East in the early morning of December 4.

A meteorite hurtled towards Earth, lighting up the sky over the Yakutia region in Russia's Far East early on December 4, creating a fireball before burning up in the atmosphere.

Reuters quoted a statement from the Yakutia Emergency Service saying that all relevant agencies were put on alert when the meteorite fell, but there was no information about damage after the meteorite fell.

"Residents in the Olekminsk and Lensk districts at night were able to observe a comet-like tail and a flash of light," the statement said.

Watch a meteor burn up in the sky over Russia

The European Space Agency (ESA) said the meteorite was 70 cm in diameter and was discovered about 12 hours before it appeared in the sky. The meteorite entered the atmosphere at 1:15 am (local time).

"Thanks to observations from astronomers around the world , our warning system was able to predict this collision within +/- 10 seconds," ESA said.

New Scientist magazine quoted astronomer Alan Fitzsimmons at Queen's University in Belfast (UK) as saying that before the fireball appeared, the meteorite, though small, "was still very spectacular, visible from hundreds of kilometers".

According to ABC News, the meteorite is called C0WEPC5 and is the fourth meteorite discovered to hit Earth this year. It is not yet clear whether any debris has fallen to Earth.

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said 132 asteroids have passed closer to Earth than the moon since October 2023.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/thien-thach-lao-xuong-trai-dat-thap-sang-bau-troi-vung-yakutia-cua-nga-185241204075651709.htm