{"id":618073,"date":"2026-09-08T09:48:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T09:48:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/618073\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T09:48:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T09:48:29","slug":"just-hours-before-impact-this-week-a-hi-tech-telescope-spotted-an-asteroid-then-watched-it-hit-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/618073\/","title":{"rendered":"Just hours before impact \u2013\u00a0this week a hi-tech telescope spotted an asteroid, then watched it hit Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"

Planetary defence scientists caught an asteroid smashing into Earth off the coast of Australia this week \u2013 and only had a 6-hour warning that it would impact.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, September 6, 2026, automated tracking telescopes at the Mount Lemmon Observatory in Arizona, USA picked up a faint object streaking across the sky.<\/p>\n

The object turned out to be an asteroid<\/a> measuring just 80cm (2.6 feet) wide \u2013 staggeringly small considering the ground-based observatory picked it out amongst background stars before it crashed into the ocean.<\/p>\n

\"Artist'sCredit: Puchan \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

\"MountMount Lemmon Observatory in Arizona, USA. Credit: John Davis\/Stocktrek Images\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Six hours after it was discovered, the asteroid, provisionally designated CERNQ52, burned up upon entry over the Indian Ocean off the northwest coast of Australia at 16:07 UTC, according to preliminary results released by the European Space Agency<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While the event produced no damage and no crater, planetary defence experts will see this detection as a success.<\/p>\n

Now officially designated as 2026 RW1, it’s only the 13th known impacting asteroid ever detected before it hit Earth.<\/p>\n

A needle in a space-rock haystack<\/p>\n

We’re all used to seeing infographics of enormous asteroids that could wipe out whole neighbourhoods on Earth in an instant.<\/p>\n

But finding one measuring just 80 centimetres across before it hit Earth is really quite something.<\/p>\n

Small asteroids enter Earth’s atmosphere all the time, but spotting them before they strike is rare.<\/p>\n

2026 RW1 marks only the 13th time humanity has detected an asteroid prior to atmospheric entry.<\/p>\n

The Mount Lemmon Observatory’s Catalina Survey uses automated telescopes to scan patches of the night sky, looking for fast-moving objects that could indicate an asteroid, comet or other rocky body moving through space.<\/p>\n

It’s not a new technique: astronomers have long compared images of the same patch of sky taken at different times to spot fast-moving foreground objects.<\/p>\n

\"ClydeClyde Tombaugh pictured at a Zeiss Blink Comparator, a machine used in the discovery of Pluto. Credit: Lowell Observatory Archives<\/p>\n

The technique was used by Clyde Tombaugh<\/a> to discover Pluto in 1930, for example, but back then astronomers had to carry out the painstaking work manually, using photographic plates and a ‘blink comparator’ to identify objects moving between exposures.<\/p>\n

Now, astronomers have automated telescopes that often adopt machine-learning and artificial intelligence to make the job of finding potentially dangerous space rocks much easier.<\/p>\n

Once 2026 RW1 was detected, the European Space Agency\u2019s (ESA) Meerkat system \u2013 another automated warning system \u2013\u00a0got to work studying the asteroid, predicting its trajectory and time of impact.<\/p>\n

Asteroid CERNQ52 entered Earth’s atmosphere today over the ocean south of Indonesia. It was discovered by the Mount Lemmon Survey in Arizona only hours before its demise. At 80 cm wide, it would have caused no damage. I had to exaggerate the size here, so you could see it.
\ud83d\udd2d pic.twitter.com\/kJGBjqwI2d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Tony Dunn (@tony873004) September 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

A rare Aten asteroid<\/p>\n

Space-rock experts like Adrian Coffinet (as reported by EarthSky)<\/a> have suggested that 2026 RW1 could be a rare type of asteroid known as an ‘Aten’ asteroid.<\/p>\n

Aten asteroids are a type of near-Earth asteroid whose orbit around the Sun takes them within Earth’s orbit.<\/p>\n

However, sometimes they cross Earth’s orbital path, potentially bringing them within close range of our home planet.<\/p>\n

While this may sound rather alarming, it’s worth remembering that asteroids strike Earth’s atmosphere and burn up all the time.<\/p>\n

As well as this, what the detection of 2026 RW1 shows is that humanity’s ability to detect tiny objects approaching Earth is improving all the time, meaning our automated systems are becoming reliable early-warning systems.<\/p>\n

Summary<\/p>\n

A tiny asteroid,\u00a0temporarily designated\u00a0CERNQ52 and later\u00a0named\u00a02026 RW1, was\u00a0detected by the\u00a0Catalina\u00a0Sky Survey on\u00a0September 6, 2026, just\u00a0hours before it\u00a0entered Earth’s atmosphere.
\nMeasuring 80cm\u00a0across, the asteroid\u00a0disintegrated over the\u00a0Indian Ocean off\u00a0north-western Australia\u00a0without causing damage\u00a0or reaching the\u00a0ocean surface.
\nIts detection marks\u00a0only the\u00a013th known occasion\u00a0on which an\u00a0asteroid was spotted\u00a0before atmospheric entry, making it a\u00a0notable success for\u00a0planetary defence.
\nThe\u00a0event shows\u00a0how automated systems\u00a0like\u00a0ESA’s Meerkat can\u00a0help provide warnings\u00a0about potentially\u00a0hazardous space rocks<\/p>\n