Small asteroid creates ‘spectacular fireball’ while burning up over Philippines

Sept. 4 (UPI) -- A small asteroid burned up after it entered the Earth's atmosphere Wednesday afternoon over the Philippines.

It did not cause any harm to humans or infrastructure.

The European Space Agency discovered the small asteroid early Wednesday and said it would enter the atmosphere at 12:46 p.m. EDT over the western Pacific Ocean near the Philippines' island of Luzon.

Qbout 3 foot in diameter, the asteroid eluded detection until Wednesday morning and is the ninth asteroid detected before entering the Earth's atmosphere, the ESA said in a post on X .

"The object is harmless, but people in the area may see a spectacular fireball!" the ESA said.

As predicted, the asteroid produced a "spectacular bright flash in the sky over the Philippines" several hours after it was detected, New Scientist reported .

Research technologist Jacqueline Fazekas at the NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey discovered the asteroid that is designated 2024 RW1.

Its discovery occurred about eight hours before it burned up in the atmosphere.

The Catalina Sky Survey is located near Tucson, Ariz., and is tasked with tracking near-Earth objects.

Wednesday's discovery shows the Catalina Sky Survey and similar observatories are getting better at detecting even small asteroids before they affect the planet, ESA officials said .