Asteroids are small, rocky objects that orbit the Sun. Although asteroids orbit the Sun like planets, they are much smaller than planets. The space rocks approach towards the Earth due to the gravitational forces that affect them. There are more than 7 lakh asteroids that have been found in space. Asteroids, if hit Earth, can bring massive destruction to the Earth and also to human life and many of you would agree with it. Right? Recently, a number of asteroids including 2019 OK, 2019 OD, 2015 HM10, 2019 OE, 2019 NN3, 2019 MB4, 2019 MT2, 2006 QV89, 2016 NO56M, RF12 and others approaching towards our planet, luckily did not collide with the Earth. These asteroids would have brought tsunamis, shock waves and flattening winds that could be catastrophic. Have you ever seen an asteroid exploding in the Earth's atmosphere? Well, the answer would be no.
According to report of express.co.uk, on July 24, 2019, a small asteroid shattered into the Earth’s atmosphere over Canada at a staggering 45,000 mph, causing a bright explosion at around 3AM local time. Soon after entering the Earth’s atmosphere, asteroid immediately exploded and its fragments scattered across the countryside near Bancroft, Ontario. However, the University of Western Ontario recorded the video of asteroid’s explosion. The video was obtained and analysed by NASA.
In a statement, NASA said that the asteroid was only about 12 inches wide which disintegrated about 18 miles above the surface.
Professor Peter Brown of the University of Western Ontario stated that the space rock reached relatively close to the ground before it exploded and he believes that the scientists may be able to find and analyse the fragments.