Asteroid 2022 WJ1 impacts Earth over Niagara Falls – the 6th asteroid detected before impact

A newly-discovered asteroid designated 2022 WJ1 impacted Earth’s atmosphere over Niagara Falls at 08:27 UTC on November 19, 2022, becoming the 6^th asteroid to be discovered before impacting Earth.

The object was first observed at Mt. Lemmon Survey at 04:53 UTC – just a couple of hours before the impact.

Asteroid 2022 WJ1 belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids. Its estimated diameter is between 0.5 and 1.2 m (1.6 – 3.9 feet).

The entry of this object produced a bright fireball and was captured on cameras.

Numerous people reported hearing a very loud boom associated with this event.

I captured meteor #c8ff042 in Brantford,Ontario Canada at with my GoPro
It was capturing 30sec shots all night and got this shot pic.twitter.com/grTgtPQreU

— Dereck Bowen (@dereckbowen) November 19, 2022

https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/1593912958509367296

Heard a big explosion last night and found this on our camera this morning! #meteor pic.twitter.com/ILtIQWSbp8

— Sarah Gorsline (@SarahGorsline) November 19, 2022

https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/1593942458777436160

My doorbell caught #C8FF042 entering the atmosphere head on. Really interesting to see from this angle. This was near Crown Point East in Hamilton, ON. pic.twitter.com/6sOO16TEXN

— Dave Dunville (@davedunville) November 19, 2022

Bright fireball over Southern Ontario last night at 3:26 am caused by impact of asteroid 2022WJ1. This sub-meter-sized asteroid (one of the smallest NEAs ever detected) produced a spectacular fireball, though it was cloudy in many locations. Video from Western's meteor network: pic.twitter.com/e5LkY7qWw4

— Peter Brown (@pgbrown) November 19, 2022

Did you see it? ☄️ Asteroid #C8FF042 struck the skies of southern Ontario last night! #Asteroid #Fireball #Toronto pic.twitter.com/K2ORC6pUei

— The Weather Network (@weathernetwork) November 19, 2022

I OBSERVED THE METEOROID THAT JUST EXPLODED OVER LAKE ERIE (#C8FF042) WITH THE LOWELL DISCOVERY TELESCOPE WOOOOOOOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/2lJmo4udH8

— Dr. Teddy Kareta (@teddykareta) November 19, 2022

Over Toronto pic.twitter.com/yhCqJhBQXQ

— Billy Stemhovilichski (@glifencibles) November 19, 2022

Last night, newly-discovered asteroid #C8FF042 flew over the United States before impacting Earth near the Great Lakes. pic.twitter.com/vILyEVDZJi

— Tony Dunn (@tony873004) November 19, 2022

The American Meteor Society (AMS) has so far received only 33 reports (fireball event 8984-2022) and one video.

The other 5 asteroids detected before impacting Earth are:

• 2008 TC3 – impacted over Nubian desert, Sudan on October 7, 2008. Discovered on October 6, 2008. Diameter: approximately 4 m (13 feet); Mass approximately 80 tons.
• 2014 AA – impacted over the Atlantic Ocean, 3 000 km (1 864 miles) from Caracas, Venezuela on January 2, 2014. Discovered on January 1, 2014.  Diameter: approximately 3 m (9.8 feet); Mass approximately 40 tons.
• 2018 LA – impacted over the Botswana-South Africa border on June 2, 2018. Discovered on June 2, 2018. Diameter: approximately 3 m (9.8 feet); Mass approximately 40 tons.
• 2019 MO – impacted off the south coast of Puerto Rico, the Caribbean Sea on June 22, 2019. Discovered on June 22, 2019. Diameter: approximately 5 m (9.8 feet); Mass approximately 200 tons.
• 2022 EB5 – impacted southwest of Jan Mayen island in the Arctic Ocean at around 21:22 UTC on March 11, 2022. Discovered roughly two hours before impact. Diameter: approximately 3 m (9.8 feet).

All were small space rocks that did no damage when they broke up in our planet’s atmosphere.

References:

Asteroid 2022 WJ1 at Minor Planet Center; at CNEOS

Featured image credit: Nick Moore (stillshot)