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

Meteorite fell in the Russian 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 were able to observe a comet-like tail and a flash of light at night," the statement said.

Watch meteorite burn in Russian sky

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

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 fragments have fallen to Earth.

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said 132 asteroids have flown 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