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An asteroid hit Earth right after being spotted by telescope this week

A small, harmless space rock turned into a fireball in our atmosphere. What's unusual is that astronomers saw it beforehand.

Eric Mack Contributing Editor
Eric Mack has been a CNET contributor since 2011. Eric and his family live 100% energy and water independent on his off-grid compound in the New Mexico desert. Eric uses his passion for writing about energy, renewables, science and climate to bring educational content to life on topics around the solar panel and deregulated energy industries. Eric helps consumers by demystifying solar, battery, renewable energy, energy choice concepts, and also reviews solar installers. Previously, Eric covered space, science, climate change and all things futuristic. His encrypted email for tips is ericcmack@protonmail.com.
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Eric Mack
2 min read
capture

Artist's concept of a near-earth asteroid.

NASA/JPL-CalTech

An asteroid the size of a refrigerator was spotted by telescopes in Hawaii on Saturday, just before it collided with Earth's atmosphere and burned as a fireball in the sky due south of Puerto Rico. The harmless space rock, officially named 2019 MO, never had a chance of making it to the ground or doing much damage, as it was only about a tenth the size of the bolide that exploded in the atmosphere over Russia in 2013

You can see the fireball flash in imagery from NOAA/NASA satellites below:

According to fireball and bolide data from NASA, our atmosphere is struck by a meteor this size or larger roughly once a year. 

What's most interesting about 2019 MO, though, is the fact that it was spotted by telescopes beforehand. That's only happened four times in history, according to Italian amateur astronomer Ernesto Guido.

The other three times all happened in the last 12 years, including asteroid 2018 LA that made it all the way to the ground in Africa. 

This doesn't mean space rocks are getting more aggressive in the 21st century, but that astronomers' equipment and techniques are getting better at spotting incoming asteroids.   

According to the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center, 2019 MO impacted the atmosphere at around 5:30 p.m. EDT Saturday. 

Astronomer Peter Brown from Western University in Ontario noted that the impact was recorded at the equivalent explosive power of 5,000 tons of TNT. 

Of course, the same-day notice provided in the case of 2019 MO wouldn't be too helpful in making preparations if it were a much bigger asteroid smacking into the sky. Fortunately NASA and other agencies have mandated goals to work toward tracking as many of the biggest rocks out there as possible. 

Watch this: How NASA's DART could save the planet from a killer asteroid