NEW YORK (AP) — On Wednesday, a small asteroid was discovered, and it safely disintegrated in Earth’s atmosphere later that same day, according to NASA.
This asteroid, measuring about 3 feet (1 meter) in diameter, was found by astronomers in Arizona and broke apart over the waters near the Philippines just hours after it was identified.
Known as 2024 RW1, this asteroid is notable because it is only the ninth one to be detected before it entered Earth’s atmosphere. Asteroids of this size typically come towards Earth approximately every two weeks, but they generally do not pose any threat.
The discovery was made through the Catalina Sky Survey, which is operated by the University of Arizona and receives funding from NASA.
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