Asteroid hits Earth hours after discovery, third near miss in 2024

The object bypassed impact monitoring systems.

Last month, Earth’s atmosphere was bombarded by a small boulder-sized asteroid just hours after it was first detected, having evaded early impact monitoring systems. The object, designated 2024 UQ, was discovered just two hours before it entered Earth’s atmosphere, and fortunately there was no real threat as it was only 1 meter in diameter.

The Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, a four-telescope survey in Hawaii to monitor near-Earth objects, had discovered the asteroid on October 22. ​​Within days of detection, 2024 UQ disintegrated in the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean, near California, creating an “imminent impactor,” or an impact in which Earth-bound objects are detected hours before they hit the planet.

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“ATLAS research has produced images showing detections of a small object on a high-probability collision course. However, due to the object’s location near the edge of two adjacent fields, the candidate was recognized as a moving object only a few hours later,” ESA wrote in the newsletter.“By the time the astrometry reached the impact monitoring systems, the impact had already occurred.”

This close call serves to highlight both the strengths and weaknesses of the modern rail system and provides an argument for continued investment in early detection technology. While the situation is harmless under these circumstances, it serves to draw attention to Earth’s continued improvement efforts regarding space surveillance – the possibility of potentially dangerous space rocks slipping away unnoticed.