This Asteroid Hits Earth In Hours After Detected

Illustration 2024 UQ before hitting Earth (doc. ESA).

JAKARTA With the advanced current space technology, all types of asteroids should be detectable as they approach Earth. However, there is an asteroid that manages to approach Earth undetected.

This asteroid is named 2024 UQ. This astronomical object measures one meter and is detected by the Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) instrument about two hours before entering Earth's atmosphere. Fortunately, 2024 UQ only measures one meter.

Quoting from Space's report, this asteroid caught fire over the Pacific Ocean, precisely near California. Although there is no danger, the question arises as to why the ATLAS network has just detected an asteroid when its distance is very close.

If this problem only happens to ATLAS, NASA-funded network, the problem of technology may be the reason. However, the European Space Agency's (ESA) Near Object Coordination Center (NEOCC) also did not detect the presence of 2024 UQ.

"Because the location of the object near the edge of two adjacent fields, the candidate (asteroid 2024 UQ) was recognized as an object that moved just hours later," ESA said via the November Bulletin.

This is the third asteroid that was detected late by the asteroid monitoring instrument. The first asteroid is 2024 BX1 which measures 1 meter and is recorded by the system about hours after the impact occurred.

BX1 caught fire over Berlin in January 2024. Meanwhile, the second asteroid is 2024 RW1. This asteroid exploded over the Philippines on September 4, 2024 and dropped a number of fireballs into the country.