In the early morning on February 13, the sky over Europe witnessed history in making as a huge asteroid fireball had an ‘airburst’. The asteroid SAR2667, now known as 2023 CX, was only discovered hours before it exploded over the English Channel. People living around the area were able to witness this grand spectacle and shared the clips on social media platforms. In the video, a blue-ish green asteroid was seen coming toward the surface of the Earth at a great speed. It then exploded, causing a huge lightning-like effect before disappearing. This was one of the only seven times, scientists were able to predict an asteroid’s impact.
Of the several wonderful photos and clips captured of 2023 CX, check out the few here:
A Twitter user shared a gorgeous snap of the asteroid. “Asteroid SAR2667, about a meter in diameter, was expected to fall near the French city of Le Havre at 02:59h UTC. I drove to a photogenic spot close to home in the south of the Netherlands to capture it, just as the sky cleared,” read the tweet along with it.
Asteroid Sar2667, about a meter in diameter, was expected to fall near the French city of Le Havre at 02:59h UTC. I drove to a photogenic spot close to home in the south of the Netherlands to capture it, just as the sky cleared.#asteroid #meteor @IMOmeteors @apod pic.twitter.com/MNZofhkrd7— Gijs de Reijke (@GijsDeReijke) February 13, 2023
Another user shared the asteroid making its way to the Earth’s atmosphere before disappearing into the clouds. That’s where it exploded, lighting up the entire sky. The tweet read, “Wow! Incredible light show with an audible bang!” The user also used the hashtag SAR2667.
Wow! Incredible lightshow with audible bang! #Sar2667 pic.twitter.com/O3Vdyg9Tlf— Phil Trease (@phil_trease) February 13, 2023
Another clip shared on the microblogging website showed the SAR2667 captured from four different angles. Each gave a new view of the explosion. The tweet read, “Here are four different views of asteroid SAR2667 as it enters the atmosphere over Western Europe.”
Space.com reported that the asteroid was first spotted by Krisztián Sárneczky of the Konkoly Observatory’s Piszkéstető Station. It is some 100 kilometers northeast of Budapest. The 2023 CX was sighted using a 2-foot (0.6-meter) telescope. The professional asteroid hunter is the one who also spotted some other asteroids that were about to explode in March 2022.
Here are four different views of asteroid #SAR2667 as it enters the atmosphere over Western Europe. #Meteor #France #UK pic.twitter.com/TwGmOrEw2r— Nahel Belgherze (@WxNB_) February 13, 2023
The 2023 CX was a 3.2-foot (one-meter) asteroid. It was spotted in various locations including England, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. This historic event took place at around 3 A.M. GMT (8:30 A.M. IST). NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and other such agencies keep an eye out for any Metroid or other such entities that can cause potential damage to our planet. So far, none have been found.
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