[▲Trackofasteroid2022WJ1whichenteredtheatmosphereoverCanadaonNovember192022andwasobservedasafireball(Credit:RobertWeryk)]
Here is the track of the fireball taken in Canada on November 19, 2022.Astronomer in London, OntarioRobert WerykTaken by In fact, this image was not taken by chance, it is said that the appearance of the fireball was predicted in advance.
At 13:53 on November 19, 2022 (JST, 23:53 on November 18, US Eastern Standard Time), the University of Arizona’s all-sky survey “Catalina Sky Survey” discovered and tracked an asteroid. Observation has started.later「2022 WJ1」This asteroid, which is given the provisional sign of , is a small celestial body with an estimated diameter of about 1 m. Objects with a diameter of about 30 μm to 1 m are called meteor substances, and those that enter the Earth’s atmosphere are observed as meteors.
An analysis of observational data by the Center for Near-Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) found that 2022 WJ1 has a 100 percent chance of colliding with Earth soon. The estimated impact time is 17:27 (03:27 EST) on November 19, 2022, just 3.5 hours after discovery, in southern Ontario. The results of the analysis came out more than two hours before the expected time of impact, giving scientists in southwestern Ontario the forecast of a fireball.
A total of 46 observations were made by 2022 WJ1 before re-entering the atmosphere. The last observation was made 32 minutes before impact with the University of Hawaii’s 2.2m telescope (Mauna Kea). 2022 WJ1 entered the atmosphere at a shallow angle from west to east at the predicted time, and was observed to split into a fireball. Dozens of sightings have been reported to the American Meteor Association, and videos of fireballs have also been posted on SNS. The first image taken by Weryk was also possible because the collision was predicted in advance.
~1-m space object – temporary designation #C8FF042 – strikes Earth over Canada, creating stunning #fireball☄️
For only the 6th time in history, this impact was predicted.
Find out more about predicting #asteroid impacts from the last time this happened ????https://t.co/zwPKXeUEUl https://t.co/XbDqtiDuom pic.twitter.com/5yHGWibSki
— ESA Operations (@esaoperations) November 19, 2022
[▲ Accounts related to the European Space Agency (ESA) that shared the video of the fireball from 2022 WJ1’s atmospheric entry taken in Toronto, Ontario]
Asteroids are discovered almost every day, but since 2008 TC3, which was discovered in October 2008, there has been no asteroid discovered before it hits the Earth (including cases where it burns up in the atmosphere as a meteor). There are only 5 examples. 2022 WJ1, which was discovered this time, is the sixth asteroid ever discovered before it hit the Earth.
Source
- Image Credit: Robert Weryk
- NASA/JPL – NASA Program Predicted Impact of Small Asteroid Over Ontario, Canada
Text / Takehiro Matsumura