A small asteroid, about 1 meter (3 feet) in size, burned up in Earth’s atmosphere over Luzon Island in the Philippines on Wednesday afternoon, NASA reported.
The European Space Agency (ESA) said the impact happened at 12:39 p.m. ET (4:39 p.m. UTC).
The asteroid, first discovered by the Catalina Sky Survey this morning and originally named CAQTDL2, is now called 2024 RW1. Asteroids this size are estimated to hit Earth about every two weeks, but they are rarely detected before they reach the planet, according to ESA.
“This is only the ninth time humans have spotted an asteroid before it hit,” ESA tweeted.
The asteroid was harmless because it was small enough to burn up when entering the atmosphere. People in the area shared videos on social media, showing a bright fireball in the sky.
