LOOK: Fiery Asteroid Lights Up the Night Sky in Northern Luzon
Only nine times in history has an asteroid been seen before impact.
(SPOT.ph) It was a night to remember for those lucky enough to be gazing up early this morning as a small asteroid named 2024 RW1 entered Earth's atmosphere above northern Luzon at exactly 12:39 a.m. on September 5, 2024.
Fortunately, asteroid 2024 RW1 posed no danger—just a cool opportunity for Filipinos to witness a bright fireball streaking across the sky before fading into darkness. The International Meteor Organization (IMO) was the first to catch the asteroid’s trajectory at 4:15 p.m. on September 4, noting it would have “no real impact, but a nice fireball and potential meteorites!"
IMO said this one-meter-wide space rock made a grand entrance at a staggering speed of 20.8 kilometers per second. Not even the severe tropical storm Enteng was able to block the view of this fiery spectacle.
According to the European Space Agency (ESA), this rare event is only the ninth time in recorded history that an extraterrestrial object has been detected before making contact with the Earth. It even has its own Wikipedia page now!
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Footage of asteroid 2024 RW1 in the Philippines
Naturally, Filipinos wasted no time in sharing videos of the asteroid's fiery descent over Cagayan province on social media.
Take a look at some of the best footages below.
Thousands of fireball-sized meteors enter Earth's atmosphere every day but most go unnoticed—they happen over oceans, remote areas, or during the brightness of day. According to the IMO, brighter fireballs, like the one seen over Luzon, are much rarer events, making this sighting even more special.
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