2022 EB5
2022 EB5 was an asteroid that struck Planet Earth mere hours after it was first detected, on March 11, 2022.[1] The discovery was made by astronmer Krisztián Sárneczk of Budapest's Konkoly Observatory.
Infrasound detectors confirmed it struck over the Norwegian Sea near Jan Mayen, a small island near Iceland.[1][2]
It was estimated to be only 2-3 metres in diameter.[1] Paul Chodas, the director of the Center for Near Earth Object Studies (CNEOS) told reporter that asteroids this size strike the earth more than once per year, but it is rare to detect one prior to impact.[3] This was the just the fifth asteroid to have its collision detected in advance.
According to The New York Times this detection was a good dry run for the detection of "city killer" - an asteroid as destructive as the Tunguska asteroid, whose impact is estimated to have released 1000 times as much energy as the Hiroshima bomb.[3]
Ironically the United States Senate had approved a five year renewal of funding to the centre that coordinated the detection on the same day as the detection.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Small Asteroid Disintegrates over Norwegian Sea, Sci-news, 2022-03-16. Retrieved on 2022-03-22. “Krisztián Sárneczky, an astronomer at Konkoly Observatory’s Piszkéstető Station in Budapest, Hungary, reported the observation of a fast moving object to the Minor Planet Center on March 11, 2022.”
- ↑ Hanna Ali. Astronomers successfully predict an asteroid impact above Iceland, PBS Nova, 2022-03-16. Retrieved on 2022-03-22. “It disintegrated over Jan Mayen island near Iceland, its pieces most likely plunging into the Arctic Ocean, the International Meteor Organization reports.”
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Robin George Andrews. How a Tiny Asteroid Strike May Save Earthlings From City-Killing Space Rocks, The New York Times, 2022-03-21. Retrieved on 2022-03-22. “Not only had he spied a new asteroid, he had detected one just before it struck planet Earth, only the fifth time such a discovery has ever been made.”
- ↑ ASTEROID “2022 EB5” STRIKES EARTH ON THE DAY OF PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION—SERIOUSLY!, II USA, 2022-03-15. Retrieved on 2022-03-22. “What’s so important about March 11 you may ask? That just so happens to be the day that the EB-5 Regional Center Program received a five-year reauthorization as part of the omnibus spending bill passed by the Senate.”