A small asteroid may just have hit Earth today

My Facebook feeds from astronomy groups and pages have exploded with the news: a tiny and recently discovered asteroid 2014 AA (approx 4 meters in diameter) has exploded in the Earth's atmosphere, somewhere off the coast of West Africa. It would have produced an air-burst comparable to a small nuclear bomb, similar to the 2008 TC3 asteroid that exploded over Africa.

remanzacco.blogspot.it...

It is virtually certain that 2014 AA hit the Earth's atmosphere on 2014 Jan. 2.2 +/- 0.4, as demonstrated by independent calculations by Bill Gray, the MPC and Steve Chesley (JPL). According to Chesley, the impact locations are widely distributed, most likely falling on an arc extending from Central America to East Africa, with a best-fit location just off the coast of West Africa on Jan. 2.10. 2014 AA was unlikely to have survived atmospheric entry intact, as it was comparable in size to 2008 TC3, the only other example of an impacting object observed prior to atmospheric entry.

Below you can see the two maps of the possible impact region made by Bill Gray.

Wiki article: en.wikipedia.org...

I will post more updates soon, as they are coming.

P.S. Here are impact simulation results, using the same impact velocity and angle as 2008 TC3: Click
It's an air-burst, but some fragments may make their way to the surface (in this case, most probably the Atlantic ocean). Air-burst energy = 0.5 kilotons.

reply to post by wildespace


Yes, sooner or later one of these things may fall in a major city and we can`t do anything about it

CosmicDude
reply to post by wildespace

 

Yes, sooner or later one of these things may fall in a major city and we can`t do anything about it

Sure there is. We'd start a recovery effort and then begin rebuilding.

That's what we always do, even if it makes no sense to do so, like New Orleans.

reply to post by TDawgRex


LOL!!!!

Rebuild a slum. Like Detroit. LOL.

(Uh oh.......)

Here are a few sources for this news...

news.discovery.com...

www.slate.com...

www.wired.com...

reply to post by wildespace

Here's an animation from your link.

Almost looked like it was guided. Yeah, sorry, couldn't resist

Am I reading it wrong, or was this asteroid the first one being detected in 2014?

Wonder if it fragments from Ison debris? Any Astromoners can confrim or deny this?

Be intresting to see if there are a few more little instances over the next couple of months. Hopeffully if so they will be contained to uninhabited areas.

Some close ones on the way too.

I'm in that pink line (Aruba). I didn't hear or notice anything last night.

I wonder if it has anything to do with this thread:

Asteroid to Hit Atlantic says Russia

The trajectory, in scientific terms, is astronomically close...

phantomjack
I wonder if it has anything to do with this thread:

Asteroid to Hit Atlantic says Russia

The trajectory, in scientific terms, is astronomically close...

I'm pretty sure we'll have one of our Puerto Rican members pop in sooner or later to say "Nawp, still here, bro."

Still pretty interesting though, I wonder if any coast folks or fishermen got a good show?

reply to post by skyblueworld


Yeah, from your chart, people should be watching the sky's tonight/tomorrow as well, since that one is a bit bigger.

Would be interesting to hear in the next day if anyone found any fragments from this one OP.
I'm way to far north to have seen anything of it in the sky though.

More and more when I check Space Weather each morning am I seeing previously unknown objects listed that have already passed us at very close distances. (under a LD)

As well as updated with new ones, so as a previous poster said only a matter of time and will be without warning most likely, so untold will be the consequences. I just for one hope they keep staying small and landing in water with only a light show, because I for one do not even want to fathom the aftermath, if it were to hit land

SaneThinking

crazyewok
Wonder if it fragments from Ison debris? Any Astromoners can confrim or deny this?

No, its orbit was nothing like ISON's, not even close.
ssd.jpl.nasa.gov...
Can we please stop with the "ISON debris threat" silliness already?

crazyewok
Wonder if it fragments from Ison debris? Any Astromoners can confrim or deny this?

Be intresting to see if there are a few more little instances over the next couple of months. Hopeffully if so they will be contained to uninhabited areas.

ISON at its closest was 40 million miles from Earth; that is nowhere near Earth. In fact, Venus is closer to Earth right now (about 30 Million miles) than ISON ever was.

Even after ISON broke up, its momentum would have kept all of the debris close to ISON, moving along the same general orbit as the intact ISON originally was moving (i.e., nowhere near earth).

Nyiah

phantomjack
I wonder if it has anything to do with this thread:

Asteroid to Hit Atlantic says Russia

The trajectory, in scientific terms, is astronomically close...

I'm pretty sure we'll have one of our Puerto Rican members pop in sooner or later to say "Nawp, still here, bro."

Still pretty interesting though, I wonder if any coast folks or fishermen got a good show?

No, what I am saying is that everyone laughed at the Russian prediction, yet, almost on cue, an asteroid, albeit, much smaller and not devastating enters earth's atmo at nearly the same trajectory that was predicted, albeit, a little east of the original prediction.

Could the Russian military people who made this statement last week be talking about this particular event, though, not as devastating as originally thought?

If you look at the illustration, the asteroid sailed about 100 miles south of Puerto Rico on its way to the African continent.

crazyewok
Wonder if it fragments from Ison debris? Any Astromoners can confrim or deny this?

Be intresting to see if there are a few more little instances over the next couple of months. Hopeffully if so they will be contained to uninhabited areas.

NO.

ISON was on a totally different trajectory.

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People


I only asked as we were meant to have been traverliing through its debri trail if it hadnt of broken up.