Asteroid 2024 RW1, which was discovered just hours before its atmospheric entry, made a dramatic appearance over the Philippines on September 4, 2024. The asteroid, roughly the size of a small car (about 1 meter in diameter), was detected by the Catalina Sky Survey and was initially designated CAQTDL2 before being named 2024 RW1.
The asteroid entered the atmosphere at a speed of approximately 11 miles per second (around 40,000 miles per hour) and burned up, creating a spectacular green flash visible to observers on the ground. Despite the cloud cover from Typhoon Yagi, the event was still visible and was captured on video by local residents.
This event marks only the ninth recorded instance of an asteroid being detected before it impacted Earth.
The asteroid entered the atmosphere at a speed of approximately 11 miles per second (around 40,000 miles per hour) and burned up, creating a spectacular green flash visible to observers on the ground. Despite the cloud cover from Typhoon Yagi, the event was still visible and was captured on video by local residents.
This event marks only the ninth recorded instance of an asteroid being detected before it impacted Earth.