A small asteroid, measuring less than 70 centimeters (27.5 inches) wide, sped toward Earth and burned out above far northeastern Russia on Tuesday night, creating a natural light show for residents in the remote region.
The European Space Agency had earlier spotted the asteroid on a collision course with Earth but predicted the impact would be harmless. At 5:15 p.m. CET (11:15 a.m. ET), a “nice fireball” was seen in the sky over northern Siberia, in the Russian republic of Yakutia.
NASA described the event as a “harmless fireball” and credited the University of Arizona’s Bok telescope for first detecting the asteroid’s approach.