Asteroid 2024 RW1 burns up in Earth’s atmosphere over the Philippines

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An asteroid about 1 meter in diameter burned up in Earth’s atmosphere over the Philippines near the island of Luzon early Wednesday afternoon, according to NASA. The European Space Agency estimated the impact occurred at 12:39 p.m. ET (1639 UTC).

The object, originally called CAQTDL2 but now named 2024 RW1, was discovered this morning by the Catalina Sky Survey. According to the space agency, asteroids about 1 meter in diameter strike Earth about every two weeks, although they are very rarely spotted before impacting the planet.

“This is only the ninth asteroid ever spotted by humanity before impact,” ESA tweeted.

The object was harmless because it was small enough to burn up in the atmosphere upon entering. Skywatchers in the area posted a video on social media showing a spectacular fireball.