This is what the meteorite that burned up in the sky of the Philippines looked like and left an incredible scene

A bright fireball burned in the sky and left a shocking scene. This Thursday, September 5, a asteroid crossed several towns in Cagayan, north of Philippines leaving impressive images on the retina of Filipinos who managed to observe the phenomenon up close.

It was around 4:46 p.m. local time when The asteroid, named 2024 RW1 by scientists, entered Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrated in mid-air like a fireball, painting the sky a bright green.

This is how the tenants recorded it with cameras and phones. Photographs and videos of this cosmic spectacle were taken on social media and quickly went viral.

But was this asteroid dangerous? Could it have hit Earth? What shape was it?

Scientists and Filipinos were already expecting the asteroid before it entered Earth’s atmosphere. . Even though it was a supernatural event, everyone was ready with their cameras or to enjoy the spectacle with their own eyes, thanks to the experts’ announcement of their short visit.

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THE European Space Agency (ESA) had predicted the arrival of this asteroid to the planet thanks to Jacqueline Fazekas, from the Catalina Sky Survey observatory located in Arizona and funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) .

And the researcher managed to detect it in time, allowing space agencies to track its trajectory and know where it would go once it entered the Earth’s atmosphere.

Already well recognized, scientists have named this asteroid 2024 RW1. Before it disintegrated, they were able to see that it was a body about a meter in diameter.

NASA also managed to predict the impact of the asteroid, thanks to Asteroid watch a prediction that has fully come true.

This would be the ninth time that humans have managed to detect an asteroid before it hits the planet and one of the first times that the Near Planetary Object Warning System has acted with precision, just hours before the event took place.

“This is good news, it is a sign that we are improving our planetary defense capabilities,” Secure the ESA in your X account.

And scientists managed to exclude in time that the meteorite and its destruction when it hit the Earth’s atmosphere would not have any negative effects on the planet. That is, It was an asteroid that was completely harmless to humanity.

“According to the reports we received on the ground, the fleeting glow in the sky “It was observed as far south as Metro Manila and the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and Quezon, but the best images of the fireball were obtained mainly in the Cagayan Valley,” read another report from ScienceKonek a scientific page on the web.

The spectacle was impressive: some witnesses, such as businessman Allan Madelar (28 years old), assured that the scenario for many was waiting for the passage of the meteorite. The man, in conversation with AFPsaid the event “was fascinating.”

“The color was beautiful. The sky went from black to blue-green to orange and back to black. he described.

As well as the 2024 RW1, There would be many asteroids that would enter the Earth’s atmosphere and, due to friction between their composition with gas molecules and pressure, would disintegrate into fireballs. certainly an unusual sight for humans.

As the ESA explains, Asteroids less than a meter in diameter hit planet Earth every two weeks on average.

“They do not pose a major danger and most go unnoticed. But they can help us understand how many small asteroids there are, and we can study the fireballs they produce to figure out what they’re made of,” they said in a statement.

However, scientists warn that At some point, it is possible that an asteroid of greater mass and friction-resistant composition could strike the planet’s surface, a situation that could be catastrophic.

In fact, NASA has conducted exercises to improve the speed and effectiveness of the response in case a potentially dangerous asteroid approaches the planet.

Although the data assures that there is unlikely to be an asteroid collision in the next 100 years, other studies reject this and reveal that There are thousands of asteroids that humans cannot see, partly because of sunlight.

And these “hidden” asteroids could pose an imminent danger: according to what has been compiled National Geographic , Some are so large that they could destroy entire cities or, if larger, could even trigger a mass extinction.

This is why some researchers are evaluating strategic plans to prevent and prepare in case a colossal asteroid is detected.

For exampleNASA used its mission DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test, in Spanish) and managed to deflect a small asteroid (called Dimorphos) through a kinetic impact. This means that they intentionally sent a spaceship to crash into an asteroid to change its trajectory.

DART has achieved its goal. Nevertheless, A later study showed that debris left behind by the collision could create the first artificial meteor shower.

Although in the specific case of Dimorphos this does not pose any danger to Earth, some scientists fear that at some point this method could leave negative effects on the planet, for example if an asteroid that is too large collides.