Small asteroid might have impacted Earth on Saturday (EarthSky.org) {UPDATED}

[eppur_se_muova]

Last edited Mon Jun 4, 2018, 10:41 PM - Edit history (1)

By Eddie Irizarry in Earth | Space | June 3, 2018

Astronomers found the asteroid – now labeled ZLAF9B2 – Saturday morning, hours before closest approach. Trajectory models, observer reports and a video all suggest it struck Earth’s atmosphere over South Africa on Saturday.

A small asteroid discovered on Saturday morning, June 2, 2018, surprised astronomers when its trajectory suggested it would pass very, very close to Earth just hours after being detected. The object has been given the temporary designation of ZLAF9B2. There are reports of sightings of a bright meteor, as well as a video that may be related to the event, from Barend Swanepoel in South Africa. He reports the video as being:

… taken near my dad’s farm between Ottosdal and Hartbeesfontein.

Another witness in South Africa described the meteor as very bright, and showing a yellow color.

This space rock had an estimated size of only 10-16 feet (3 to 5 meters) in diameter. If it struck (and sometimes they do, and meteorite pieces are found), it was too small to cause serious damages. In contrast, the impressive meteor seen over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in February, 2013 was an estimated 60 feet wide (20 meters). It broke windows in six Russian cities and caused more than 1,500 people to seek medical attention, mostly due to injuries from flying glass. The June 2 asteroid wasn’t big enough to do anything like that, but it was big enough to produce a spectacular, very bright meteor.

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The 60-inch (1.5-meter) telescope at Mt. Lemmon, which is part of the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona, was the first to detect asteroid ZLAF9B2 on Saturday morning, according to clocks in North America. Alex Gibbs – principal engineer at the Catalina Sky Survey – posted these images of the object on his Facebook page:
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more (being updated): http://earthsky.org/space/video-reports-asteroid-zlaf9b2-june-2-2018-south-africa


The pix aren't showing up for me; only the video.

[SCantiGOP]

1. picture makes it pretty clear that it hit the ground

[Crash2Parties]

2. It would appear we passed through...something

"On June 1, residents of the Yunan district in southwest China witnessed an illuminated meteorite soar across the night sky. The incident happened at 9:41 p.m. local time.

The meteorite was visible from the province's Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna. Witnesses who saw the meteorite outside said that it looked like "flaming ball" and it made a thunder-like noise."

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/229232/20180603/video-captures-the-exact-moment-a-bright-meteorite-lit-up-the-night-sky-in-china.htm

[eppur_se_muova]

3. UPDATE: Small asteroid zipped through Earth's atmosphere Saturday (EarthSky.org)

The IAU has confirmed that the asteroid originally designated ZLAF9B2 – now called 2018 LA – disintegrated at a height of 30 miles (50 km) over South Africa on Saturday.

The International Astronomical Union has now confirmed that a small asteroid – discovered Saturday morning, June 2, 2018 – entered Earth’s atmosphere later that day. The asteroid was originally designated ZLAF9B2 and is now officially called 2018 LA. It surprised astronomers shortly after its discovery, when its trajectory suggested it would pass very, very close to Earth just hours later. The IAU confirmed:

The object reached 50-km [30-mile] height above the Earth’s surface around 16:51 UTC over southern Africa.

There are reports of sightings of a bright meteor, and a couple of video likely related to the event. The first video, above, is from Barend Swanepoel in South Africa. He reported the video as being:

… taken near my dad’s farm between Ottosdal and Hartbeesfontein.

Another video, taken from security footage from Farm Uitkyk, north of Vanzylsrus, Kalahari, also showed the meteor:

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more at the original link, just updated: http://earthsky.org/space/video-reports-asteroid-zlaf9b2-june-2-2018-south-africa