The exact moment in which an asteroid fell in Russia was captured on video: this is what it was like

In the early hours of this Wednesday, December 4, 2024, the inhabitants of the remote region of Yakutia, in the far east of Russia, witnessed an impressive phenomenon. An asteroid approaching Earth lit up the sky with a fireball visible from several kilometers away. According to reports from local authorities and scientists, the object disintegrated in the atmosphere before hitting the ground, and no material damage or victims were reported.

The Ministry of Emergencies of Yakutia reported that all official agencies had been put on alert for the approach of the asteroid, although its impact on the atmosphere was small enough to avoid any type of disaster. Residents of the Olekminsk and Lensk districts, located hundreds of kilometers from the regional capital, Yakutsk, were able to observe a bright contrail in the sky at night, accompanied by a flash reminiscent of a comet tail.

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The asteroid measured just 70 centimeters

According to data from the European Space Agency (ESA), the asteroid had an approximate diameter of 70 centimeters and was observed by astronomers around the world about twelve hours before its appearance in the sky. The ESA also highlighted that the impact was predicted with surprising accuracy, with a margin of error of just 10 seconds, thanks to its advanced alert system.

Astronomer Alan Fitzsimmons, from Queen’s University Belfast, said that although the asteroid was small, the phenomenon would be “quite spectacular”, and could be seen from hundreds of kilometers away. A Despite its modest size, the meteorite produced a bright fireball that caught the attention of local residents.

This Wednesday’s event occurred just days after Russian scientists announced the imminent fall of a similar meteorite in the region. In a statement published the day before, experts from the Ural Federal University had predicted that the asteroid It would enter the atmosphere on December 3 at 7:17 p.m. local time, making landfall near the towns of Okeminsk and Lensk. Despite the forecasts, scientists confirmed that there was no damage.

This meteorite was classified as “potentially dangerous” by the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, who estimated that its diameter could have been between half and two meters. Although astronomers assured that most of the asteroid would disintegrate before reaching the ground, some fragments could have fallen in the form of charred stones.

Vladilén Sanakóyev, an astronomer from the Sverdlovsk region, explained that if the asteroid was composed of metals such as iron and nickel, it could have survived atmospheric entry and left some remains on the Earth’s surface. However, he clarified that this would be only a fraction of its initial mass, estimated at about 5 tons.

In 2013 another asteroid had already fallen in Russia

Meteorite falls are a sensitive topic in Russia, especially with the memory of the meteorite that exploded near the city of Chelyabinsk, in the Urals, in February 2013. That explosion left more than 1,500 people injured, of which 319 were children, and caused significant material damage. Although in this case the size of the asteroid was much smaller, the fear is still palpable in the population, which keeps in mind the dangers associated with these celestial phenomena.

Fortunately, on this occasion, the asteroid did not cause havoc. Local authorities and astronomers continue to monitor the sky for possible threats, while the scientific community welcomes the advances in predicting these events and the early warning system that allowed the Russians to observe the phenomenon safely.