A small asteroid, measuring approximately 70 centimetres, streaked through Earth's atmosphere on Tuesday evening, December 3, creating a fiery display in the skies above Yakutia in northeastern Russia. The event, described as a “beautiful fireball” by the European Space Agency (ESA), was harmless and caused no reported damage or injuries.
As reported by NDTV World, the asteroid, designated as C0WEPC5, was first detected using the University of Arizona’s Bok telescope roughly 12 hours before its atmospheric entry. ESA officials accurately predicted its entry at 5.15 pm Central European Time (CET) — 9.45 pm Indian Standard Time (IST) — with the remarkable precision of just a 10-second margin of error.
The ESA noted on its official X account, a social media platform, that “Asteroid #C0WEPC5 entered Earth's atmosphere… creating a fireball over Yakutia witnessed by people in the region.” Officials emphasised that such events, while visually striking, pose no real threat when involving objects of this size.
NASA also weighed in, describing the asteroid as a “harmless fireball” and commending the University of Arizona's Bok telescope for the rapid identification and tracking of the space rock. Residents in the remote Yakutia region were treated to a rare celestial display as the asteroid incinerated upon atmospheric entry, leaving a dazzling spectacle in its wake.
Such occurrences, as the ESA highlighted, underscore the importance of global collaboration in planetary defence, ensuring early detection and precise prediction of these harmless yet spectacular events.
