Small, harmless asteroid burns up in Earth's atmosphere over Philippines | VIDEO
NASA says a small, harmless asteroid has burned up in Earth's atmosphere
A roughly 1-meter (3-foot) asteroid burned up in Earth's atmosphere over the Philippines near Luzon Island early Wednesday afternoon, according to NASA. The European Space Agency estimated the impact occurred at 12:39 p.m. ET (4:39 p.m. UTC).
The asteroid was spotted by astronomers in Arizona and broke apart over the coast of the Philippines hours after the discovery.
The Catalina Sky Survey discovered the object, initially called CAQTDL2 but now named 2024 RW1. Asteroids around 1 meter in size are estimated to hit Earth about every two weeks, according to the space agency, though they are very rarely spotted before making impact with the planet.
"This is just the ninth asteroid that humankind has ever spotted before impact," ESA tweeted.
The object was harmless as it was small enough to burn up in the atmosphere upon entry. Sky-gazers in the area posted video on social media that captured a spectacular fireball.
CNN and The Associated Press contributed to this post.
