Russian scientists announced this Tuesday the imminent asteroid fall called C0WEPC5 in the region of Yakutia, located in Eastern Siberia.
“Scientists from our university will observe the trajectory of a small asteroid that will enter today at 19:17 Moscow time (14:17 GMT) in the Earth’s atmosphere,” said Professor Viktor Grokhovski on the Telegram channel of the Ural Federal University.
According to the scientist, the meteorite will make landfall between the towns of Okeminsk and Lenskwhich are located about 500 and 800 kilometers, respectively, from the regional capital, Yakutsk.
The Russian space agency Roscosmosestimated the diameter of the celestial body between half and two metersand described it as “potentially dangerous”.
Russian scientists pointed out that the fall of the meteorite can be observed at a distance of up to 700 kilometers from the epicenter in the form of a fireball that will move from east to west and will be consumed in the atmosphere.
“After entering the atmosphere you will see a very bright burst and you will probably even hear a noise like thunder,” said astronomer Vladilén Sanakóyev, quoted by the press agency of the Sverdlovsk region.
According to the scientist, they could reach the surface of the Earth several kilograms of extraterrestrial matter in the form of calcined stones.
However, Sanakóyev admitted that if it were an asteroid composed of iron and nickel, it could reach the Earth’s surface up to a tenth of its initial mass, estimated at 5 tons.
The European Space Agency also reported the soon fall of the celestial body, with a diameter of approximately 70 centimeters, which it identified as C0WECP5 in a message published on the social network X.
Due to its dimensions, the asteroid was only detected shortly before approaching Earth.
Professor Alan Fitzsimmons of Queen’s University Belfast told Newscientist.com that this meteorite does not pose any risk, but “it will still be quite spectacular”.
“It will be dark over the impact site and for several hundred kilometers around there will be an impressive and very bright fireball in the sky”he assured.
News about meteorites is always greeted with fear by Russians, who have not forgotten the fall of a meteorite near the city of Chelyabinsk, in the Urals, in February 2013, which left more than 1,500 injured in the region319 of them children.
(With information from EFE)
