NASA

Small, harmless asteroid burns up in Earth's atmosphere over the Philippines

The asteroid — about 3 feet (1 meter) across — was spotted by astronomers in Arizona.

NASA logo is displayed
Jaque Silva/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

A small asteroid discovered on Wednesday harmlessly burned up in Earth's atmosphere the same day, NASA said.

The asteroid — about 3 feet (1 meter) across — was spotted by astronomers in Arizona and broke apart over the coast of the Philippines hours after the discovery.

Watch NBC6 free wherever you are

Watch button  WATCH HERE

This space rock, dubbed 2024 RW1, is only the ninth to have been spotted before its impact. Asteroids around this size hurtle toward Earth about every two weeks without posing any danger.

The asteroid was discovered through the Catalina Sky Survey, which is run by the University of Arizona and funded by NASA.

Get local news you need to know to start your day with NBC 6's News Headlines newsletter.

Newsletter button  SIGN UP
https://twitter.com/NASA/status/1831334973011268079?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"
Copyright The Associated Press
Contact Us