Australia Just Had A Very Close Encounter With An Asteroid
A small asteroid named CERNQ52 entered Earth's atmosphere off the coast of Western Australia in the early hours of Monday morning. The object was less than a meter wide and posed no threat, serving as a rare instance of a pre-impact detection.
Why it matters
It highlights advancements in planetary defense and asteroid tracking capabilities, even for small, non-threatening space objects.
Australia just had a very close encounter with an asteroid... and almost nobody noticed.
While most of us were fast asleep, a tiny space rock hurtled toward Earth before entering the atmosphere just off the coast of northwestern Australia. And while "asteroid heading towards Australia" sounds like the opening scene of a disaster movie, thankfully this one was much less dramatic.
The asteroid, known as CERNQ52 , was less than one metre wide. So, we're not talking about some giant space rock capable of sending Australia into an Armageddon sequel. This was more of a cosmic pebble than a planet destroyer.
It was spotted on Sunday, just hours before it was expected to enter Earth's atmosphere at around 2.30am AEST on Monday . Scientists were able to track its path and work out where it was heading.
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