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An asteroid that fell to Earth in 2022 and explode in a stunning dark-green fireball above Canada was the little place rock ever properly measured , a new study suggests . The bantam asteroid , which was only come upon a few hours before it blew up , was around the same sizing as an intermediate domesticated khat .
In the former hours of Nov. 19 , 2022 , asteroid 2022 WJ1 violently break aside in the low-toned atmosphere due to intense rubbing from the air . This briefly illuminate the sky above Niagara Falls , make abright flash of dark-green luminance that streaked through the sky for around 10 secondsand trigger a loud sonic boom . The explosion happened in southern Ontario but was also see by some people in the Toronto area and far south in states include New York , Ohio , Pennsylvania and Maryland , The New York Timesreported at the time .
The asteroid 2022 WJ1 violently broke apart in the sky above southern Ontario on Nov. 19 2022, creating a 10-second fireball that was viable for hundreds of miles.
astronomer from the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona first spotted 2022 WJ1 around three hours before it record Earth ’s atmosphere . The squad correctly predicted where it would terminate up , enabling equipment along the asteroid ’s path — include the 4.3 - meter Lowell Discovery Telescope ( LDT ) , also in Arizona , and a meteor tv camera web at Western University in Ontario — to closely supervise the blank space tilt as it pass overhead .
In a new study , published Nov. 22 inThe Planetary Science Journal , researchers analyse reflection of the asteroid ’s smartness , collected by LDT and Western University ’s tv camera , and determined that the space rock was somewhere between 16 to 24 inches ( 40 to 60 centimetre ) astray . This is the smallest confirmed size for any asteroid , investigator write in astatement .
modest infinite tilt than 2022 WJ1hit Earth every individual day . However , none of them have been properly measured because scientists never see them come until it ’s too late .
Data collected by the 4.3-meter Lowell Discovery Telescope helped reveal the size of 2022 WJ1. In this image, the asteroid appears as dashes in a line.
Related : Watch huge fireball glare over Lake Erie in stunning video
While scientists are unspoilt atspotting the massive " potentially risky " space rockscircling our planet , it is very rare for astronomers to catch quite a little ofan asteroid before it participate Earth ’s atmosphere — at the time , this was only the sixth to have ever been spotted . Most other blank sway stay on entirely undetected or finally let out themselves by triggering a fireball or fall to the ground , the researchers wrote .
Closely monitoring this impactor with both a telescope and a professional camera arrangement enabled the team to equate datum and make more accurate predictions about the meteoroid ’s constitution and size . This was the first clip that uranologist had ever been able to do this , study co - authorDenis Vida , an expert in meteor physics at Western University , said in the statement .
Western University cameras across Ontario helped captured value data on the meteor as it exploded.
Study lead authorTeddy Kareta , an astronomer at the Lowell Observatory in Arizona , added that " this first - ever comparison between telescopic and ball of fire television camera data is extremely exciting , and means we ’ll be able to characterize the next asteroid to impact the Earth in even better detail . "
This development is peculiarly intriguing because uranologist seem to be getting better at make out distance rocks as they approach our satellite . Scientists have now register a total of 10 early identified impactors , including three in 2024 : an asteroid thatexploded above Berlin in January ; a ball of fire thatlit up the skies of the Philippines in September ; and a meteoroid thatburned up off the Californian seacoast earlier this month .
Researchers can also watch more about fireballsby collect the fragments that fall to Earth ’s surfaceas meteorite .
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No fragment of 2022 WJ1 were ever recovered , for the most part because most were expected to fall into Lake Ontario , allot to aNASA report . But that does n’t mean we wo n’t discover them in the time to come .
" Two years on , any meteorite that fly on land will have meld in with the landscape , " study co - authorPhil McCausland , a planetary scientist at Western University , say in the statement . " That say , there are masses in the area who are look for and know what to look for . We may still get golden and recover a meteorite or two from this fall in the coming months and year . "
